El Salvador

Bitter Grounds, by Sandra Benitez (1998). Benitez's El Salvador revolves around coffee: it steams and entices even as it divides the locals. Set between the 1930s and the 1970s, Bitter Grounds depicts the stark contrasts between the lives of a wealthy family and the poor coffee pickers who work their lush plantation. Yet the hardships that befall those on both ends of the spectrum show that no one emerged unscathed from the country's bitter, political turmoil. Benitez's prose—punctuated with Spanish phrases—adds to the charm of this gripping novel, based in part on the author's own experiences.