Train to Oblivion

A dramatic story of love and loss across three generations as the railroad came to Patagonia, forever changing the landscape and its peoples.

Llankaray’s grandmother left a rich inheritance: her medicine, an undefeatable spirit, and the stories of her Mapuche ancestors. These tales are forever etched in Llankaray’s memory—and the soil of their beloved Patagonia. She begins with Fresia, a gifted Mapuche medicine woman who communicates with plants. She raises her granddaughter, Pirenrayen, to be a strong healer and leader for her people. And then there’s Chekeken, a Tehuelche woman who was once kidnapped and sold but escaped. Her son will bear a great lineage. But most unforgettable of all is Pirenrayen, Llankaray’s grandmother. Her story collides with the arrival of the railroad in Patagonia—and with a man named Liam O’Sullivan. Born a world away in Dublin, with dreams of becoming a railroad engineer, Liam couldn’t be more different from Pirenrayen. But they both witness the oppression of their people under British power. And they find in each other a love for the ages…

Moira Millán is a weychafe―warrior and defender―of the Mapuche Nation people. The daughter of railroad workers, she was born in the Chubut province of Argentina. She cofounded the October 11 Mapuche-Tehuelche Organization, which has recovered the territories of several communities and founded the Fight for Work movement. She started the March of Indigenous Women for Good Living, now a rights organization. In 2018 she organized the first indigenous women’s parliament. She continues to work on behalf of her people, the Earth, and the environment. Her activism has gained greater visibility in recent years amid ongoing repression in Patagonia. In 2012 she won the third DocTV Latin America contest as the cowriter of the documentary Pupila de mujer, mirada de tierra, directed by Florencia Copley. She won the Intercontinental Cry Indigenous Reporting Award with her article “Mapuche Motherhood in the Age of Benetton.” Train to Oblivion is her debut novel, and she’s now at work on the screenplay.