The Night We Became Strangers

This is a complexly plotted historical novel, a fictional story that swirls around one historical event: the live 1949 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds in Spanish in Quito, Ecuador. Orson Welles had broadcast it in the US in 1938, causing a widespread panic by people who really believed the Martians were invading. The broadcast in Quito was scripted in a “breaking news” format, with real politicians playing themselves as they gave “breaking news updates” to an increasingly panicked populace. Some set fire to the radio station, leading to the deaths of fifteen people inside.

The characters in the novel include a journalist and radio actress who died that night under confusing circumstances. Years later, the actress’s daughter, Valeria, the main character in a strong group of ensemble characters, returns from boarding school and decides to find out what really happened to her parents (her father disappeared after that fatal night) while she also tries to establish herself as a photojournalist.

You can read the full review at the Historical Novel Review website, here:

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-night-we-became-strangers/