The debut novel from this Uruguayan novelist (translated by Miriam Tobin) is a compelling addition to the New Latin American Gothic genre. Set in the fictional town of Paso Chico, the story concerns Marga, a 13-year-old girl who lives with her grandmother. Because of details surrounding her birth, the community has labelled Marga “unlucky”. But when Marga encounters Recio – a wandering young teen who alights on the town one day – her world shifts on its axis. Eugenia Ladra’s writing style, and the oppressive atmosphere she manages to conjure, really elevate the novel. The sundry micro-aggressions that Marga encounters, particularly through the dead weight of patriarchal structures that have forever been in place, are of a piece with the relentless heat and humidity that the town’s inhabitants must negotiate. And Ladra is excellent at ramping up tension, not through narrative twists and turns, but through stultifying stagnation. Here, society is as still and murky as the town’s stale waters. RM

Published by Daunt Books