la soledad (desolation)

When the owners abandon La Soledad, a decaying mansion, they let their former maid Rosina stay there, and her family moves in. They’re all struggling in Venezuela’s economic crisis, and the owners decide to demolish the house and sell the land — leaving the ailing Rosina and her grandson Jose’s family destitute if he can’t find a solution. The story is re-enacted by the real-life participants: José is Thielen’s boyhood friend. La Soledad is best translated “desolation” here, and its collapse becomes a metaphor for the lost grandeur and wealth of Venezuela.