70 Days of Night: 33 Trapped Miners and the Hidden Story of a Rescue

"I also remind you that it was us women who held strong when everything was lost to get them out, because we women are fighters. Pass this on to the other 32." Excerpt from a letter by Marta Salinas, wife of miner Jonni Barrios. "What happens in the mine, stays in the mine," said one of the 33 miners trapped in the tunnel of the San José mining site in northern Chile. But that wasn’t the case. Writer Emma Sepúlveda traveled to the scene of the accident from the very beginning and stayed for weeks, until the rescue, interviewing the wives of the trapped miners who played a decisive role in bringing them back alive. She also spoke with union leaders, government authorities, local parliamentarians, religious representatives, psychologists, miners, and dozens of temporary inhabitants of Camp Hope who were part of this unique epic. With countless testimonies and privileged access to letters sent from the depths of the mine, the author reconstructs the hidden side of the story: the causes of the accident, the intimate feelings of those trapped, the frantic search, and the maneuvered rescue. This book brings to light what was left unsaid and debates what was done without thinking. It exposes the media-political manipulation of the operation and reveals the true heroes of the story.