Juana Manuela Gorriti was born in Argentina in 1814, in the province of Salta. Her father fought in the War of Independence but was forced into exile in Bolivia in 1831 under the Rosas dictatorship. Juana married an army officer who became the Bolivia's president and was later assassinated in his palace. She was recognised in her time as one of Latin America's outstanding authors, but few of her works have been translated into English.

A love story, ghost story and gothic horror rolled into one, the action of The Yocci Well takes place in two parallel periods spanning twenty years, contrasting Argentina's War of Independence with the savagery of the civil wars that followed.

This brilliant novella is now available in English for the first time, together with an introduction and explanatory notes.