Translated from Spanish, Sabina Berman’s novel Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World is a story with a narrator as unconventional as the title. The strong and unusual voice belongs to Karen Nieto, a highly functioning autistic who was a once-feral child in Mexico with an incredible bond with the ocean. Discovered by her aunt, Karen struggles against the world to make her family tuna fishery more humane. I loved Karen’s unique perspective, which was full of quirks and humour. Although other characters in the novel are more stubborn, she forces the reader to think and reassess, questioning everything from animal treatment to ancient philosophy. Full of depth and unexpected moments, it’s an engaging novel with an incredibly memorable narrator. If you don’t think a tuna fishery is an interesting topic for a novel, you obviously haven’t read Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World yet.
This article appears in Aug 22-28, 2013.