Author(s): Claudia Pineiro; Frances Riddle (Translator)

Novel | Translated fiction | South and Central America | Crime and Thriller | Charco Press

After Rita is found dead in a church she used to attend, the official investigation into the incident is quickly closed. Her sickly mother is the only person still determined to find the culprit. Chronicling a difficult journey across the suburbs of the city, an old debt and a revealing conversation, Elena Knows unravels the secrets of its characters and the hidden facets of authoritarianism and hypocrisy in our society.

Review:

International Booker Prize (Shortlist)
Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award - Fiction (Shortlist)
LiBeraturpreis (Winner)

"Short and stylish...a piercing commentary on mother-daughter relationships, the indignity of bureaucracy, the burdens of caregiving and the impositions of religious dogma on women." -New York Times

"A lyrical portrait of a woman unable to grieve...incisive commentary on Catholic society's control of women's bodies." -Publishers Weekly

"A murder mystery with a twist." -The Globe and Mail

"Its true brilliance, though, is in how it flips Elena's insular daily reality into a much broader commentary on how the hypocrisy of Catholic society manifests in the lives and judgments of ordinary people. A highly accomplished and original novel, translated with great sensitivity to tone and atmosphere by Frances Riddle." -Irish Times

"A gloriously taut and haunting tale...astonishingly assured."" -Denise Mina , author of GODS AND BEASTS and THE LONG DROP

"A fascinating, twisty tale." -The Listener

Author Biography:

Born in Buenos Aires in 1960, Claudia Pineiro is a best-selling author, known internationally for her crime novels. She has won numerous national and international prizes, including the Pepe Carvalho Prize, the LiBeraturpreis for Elena Knows and the prestigious Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Prize for Las grietas de Jara (A Crack in the Wall). Many of her novels have been adapted for the big screen. Claudia Pineiro is the third most translated Argentinean author, after Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar. More recently, she has become a very active figure in the fight for the legalisation of abortion in Argentina and Latin America, and for the recognition of employment rights for writers. Her fiction is rooted in the detective novel but has recently turned increasingly political.

Frances Riddle has translated numerous Spanish-language authors, including Isabel Allende, Claudia Pineiro, Leila Guerriero, Maria Fernanda Ampuero, and Sara Gallardo. Her work has appeared in journals such as Granta, Electric Literature, and The White Review, among others. She holds a Bachelor's in Spanish Literature and a Master's in Translation Studies. Originally from Houston, Texas, she lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.