BETWEEN INCA WALLS

A former Peace Corps worker recalls her time spent in 1960s Peru in this debut memoir.

Raised by devout Roman Catholic parents, LaTorre spent her early years in the cowboy town of Ismay, Montana, before relocating in her teens to California, where her social development “crept along at a slow creek’s pace.” Life changed in her 20s when the experience of living in Latin American cultures “awakened my body and soothed my restless soul.” In 1963, she joined a group of 20-something female students who spent their summer vacation “performing good works” among Mexico’s disadvantaged communities. Her time spent in Apaseo, where, among other tasks, she helped set up a library, spurred her to join the Peace Corps the following year. The memoir recounts her training in New York and Puerto Rico before being assigned to Peru with the intention of engaging in community development work. On her 22nd birthday, the author found herself journeying through the Andes Mountains on her way to the town of Abancay, where she helped provide health care and also fell in love with Antonio, a local college student who tested her Catholic beliefs regarding intimacy. LaTorre presents a forthright and candid voice. She openly discusses how she found Latin men “enticing” and a “constant distraction.” Yet despite this attraction, she was protective of her independence, influenced by the strong women she grew up around in Montana. But her commentary on gender roles in other societies is sometimes surprising. She writes: “Domestic issues might interest most of the town’s females, but food preparation, childcare, and who was dating whom didn’t always interest us. We couldn’t understand local females’ submissiveness to their men.” There is little consideration of the obstacles to women’s liberation outside of America. Descriptions of Indigenous people also rely on stereotypes of otherness: “Small, dark, leather-skinned Indians.” LaTorre’s story is one of a determined young woman keen to achieve her goals; her relationship with Antonio will have readers guessing how the romance will turn out. Illustrated with the author’s photographs, this bold memoir offers many rich details about Peru and the Peace Corps. But readers may find some of the author’s descriptions of the country’s Native societies lack nuance.

A frank, well-intentioned but uneven account of volunteering in Peru.