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Jasmine Borchberg’s stunning debut, The Color of Air, explores belonging, resilience, and the invisible forces that shape both weather and human lives.
After a public scandal destroys her career in Madrid, atmospheric scientist Elena Álvarez accepts a last-chance assignment in Puerto Verde, a remote Patagonian town trying to turn fog into potable water.
At first, the project seems simple: Improve the system, keep her head down, and leave before anyone asks too many questions. But Puerto Verde, a place where seabirds outnumber tourists and the bar doubles as city hall, is not the exile Elena expected.
What begins as a technical assignment becomes personal as Elena is drawn into a community that has learned to live at the edge of things: A widowed marine biologist caring for an injured sea lion that rules the dock and demands fish as payment for passage, a woman bartender who doubles as mayor, and fishermen who trust the wind more than models. They make space for her in ways Madrid never did.
When the fog nets finally begin to work, their fragile success attracts the attention of outside authorities who claim the captured water belongs to the state. What began as a practical solution becomes a fight over ownership, language, and survival.
As old accusations resurface and political pressure closes in, Elena must decide whether to protect herself or stand with the people who have given her a second chance.
With a background in biotechnology and two decades spent developing and operating hotels and spas in Indonesia, Jasmine Borschberg came to fiction in retirement, bringing with her a deep sense of place and an enduring interest in the ways environment shapes human lives, both physical and emotional. Her writing is grounded in place and driven by questions of belonging and control.
She lives in Switzerland, writing alongside her Bali rescue dog and her rescued African grey parrot—her most attentive, if not always helpful, collaborators.