The Expelled Boy

From innocence to history, from childhood to truth.Winner of the Santander Department's "Cultura con Berraquera" Literary Award, ColombiaIn 1970s Colombia, while the Cold War casts its shadow over Latin America and political violence quietly infiltrates everyday life, seven-year-old Marco Saint-André believes the greatest battles are fought in classrooms, playgrounds, and the mysterious ravines surrounding his neighborhood. He is wrong.From the Viaduct is a sweeping literary novel that follows a precocious child whose boundless imagination transforms ordinary events into epic adventures, even as he gradually discovers that the real world is far stranger-and more dangerous-than any story he has ever read.Expelled from the city's most prestigious elementary school after a childish accident, Marco enters a new world where poverty, loyalty, friendship, and injustice shape his understanding of life. His closest companion is Pepito, the son of displaced farmers struggling to survive on the outskirts of Bucaramanga. Together they trade comic books, explore streams and abandoned lots, dream of impossible futures, and unknowingly stumble upon a crime that reaches far beyond childhood.When a gifted student disappears during a government-sponsored educational program, Marco becomes an unwilling witness to a mystery involving political manipulation, corruption, terrorism, and murder. Adults dismiss his testimony as the fantasy of a boy addicted to adventure novels, yet the truth slowly unfolds through events that place both him and his friends in increasing danger.At the same time, another battle is being fought inside his own home.After losing his government job, Marco's father refuses to surrender to unemployment. Through an extraordinary succession of ventures-transporting meat across Colombia, navigating the uncertainties of the Venezuelan border, pioneering an innovative packaged-charcoal business, and rebuilding his life through relentless perseverance-he becomes the moral center of the novel. His unwavering integrity teaches Marco that courage is measured less by victory than by the refusal to abandon one's principles.Rich with historical detail, From the Viaduct recreates Colombia before the rise of the drug cartels, portraying a nation suspended between hope and uncertainty, where neighborhoods still revolved around family, schools, churches, comic books, radio dramas, and impossible dreams.Blending literary realism with the limitless imagination of childhood, the novel moves effortlessly between humor, suspense, tragedy, and wonder. Classical literature, mythology, and adventure stories become the language through which Marco interprets a confusing adult world, giving the narrative a distinctive voice that is both nostalgic and profoundly original.More than a coming-of-age novel, From the Viaduct is an exploration of memory, resilience, justice, and the quiet heroism of ordinary families confronting extraordinary circumstances.For readers who enjoy emotionally rich literary fiction, historical coming-of-age novels, and unforgettable stories of family, friendship, and survival, From the Viaduct offers an immersive journey into a vanished Colombia whose struggles remain strikingly relevant today.

From innocence to history, from childhood to truth.Winner of the Santander Department's "Cultura con Berraquera" Literary Award, ColombiaIn 1970s Colombia, while the Cold War casts its shadow over Latin America and political violence quietly infiltrates everyday life, seven-year-old Marco Saint-André believes the greatest battles are fought in classrooms, playgrounds, and the mysterious ravines surrounding his neighborhood. He is wrong.From the Viaduct is a sweeping literary novel that follows a precocious child whose boundless imagination transforms ordinary events into epic adventures, even as he gradually discovers that the real world is far stranger-and more dangerous-than any story he has ever read.Expelled from the city's most prestigious elementary school after a childish accident, Marco enters a new world where poverty, loyalty, friendship, and injustice shape his understanding of life. His closest companion is Pepito, the son of displaced farmers struggling to survive on the outskirts of Bucaramanga. Together they trade comic books, explore streams and abandoned lots, dream of impossible futures, and unknowingly stumble upon a crime that reaches far beyond childhood.When a gifted student disappears during a government-sponsored educational program, Marco becomes an unwilling witness to a mystery involving political manipulation, corruption, terrorism, and murder. Adults dismiss his testimony as the fantasy of a boy addicted to adventure novels, yet the truth slowly unfolds through events that place both him and his friends in increasing danger.At the same time, another battle is being fought inside his own home.After losing his government job, Marco's father refuses to surrender to unemployment. Through an extraordinary succession of ventures-transporting meat across Colombia, navigating the uncertainties of the Venezuelan border, pioneering an innovative packaged-charcoal business, and rebuilding his life through relentless perseverance-he becomes the moral center of the novel. His unwavering integrity teaches Marco that courage is measured less by victory than by the refusal to abandon one's principles.Rich with historical detail, From the Viaduct recreates Colombia before the rise of the drug cartels, portraying a nation suspended between hope and uncertainty, where neighborhoods still revolved around family, schools, churches, comic books, radio dramas, and impossible dreams.Blending literary realism with the limitless imagination of childhood, the novel moves effortlessly between humor, suspense, tragedy, and wonder. Classical literature, mythology, and adventure stories become the language through which Marco interprets a confusing adult world, giving the narrative a distinctive voice that is both nostalgic and profoundly original.More than a coming-of-age novel, From the Viaduct is an exploration of memory, resilience, justice, and the quiet heroism of ordinary families confronting extraordinary circumstances.For readers who enjoy emotionally rich literary fiction, historical coming-of-age novels, and unforgettable stories of family, friendship, and survival, From the Viaduct offers an immersive journey into a vanished Colombia whose struggles remain strikingly relevant today.