1907. León, Nicaragua. During a tribute which he delivers during his triumphal return to his native city, Rubén Dario writes on the fan of a little girl one of his most famous poems, "Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea."
1956. In a café in León, a group of literati gather, dedicated to, among other things, the rigorous reconstruction of the legend surrounding Darío—and also to conspire. There will be an attempt against dictator Somoza’s life, and that little girl with the fan a half-century before, will not be a disinterested party.
In Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea, Sergio Ramírez encompasses, in a complete metaphor of reality and legend, the entire history of his country. The narrative moves along paths 50 years apart, which inevitably converge. The story becomes a fascinating exercise on the power of memory, on the influence of the past, fictitious or not, in the finality of reality.
