Description

From the author of Elena Knows , finalist for the 2022 International Booker Prize

20 years after a shocking accident, Mary Lohan returns to the Buenos Aires suburb she escaped in a fugue of guilt and isolation. She is not the same-not her name or voice, not even the color of her eyes. The neighborhood looks different too, but she’s still the same woman and it’s still the same place, and as the past erupts into view, they slowly collide.

A Little Luck is the story about the debilitating weight of lies, the messy line between bravery and cowardice, and the tragedies, big and small, that can ripple out from a single decisive event. In a place she had determined to forget forever, both anticipated encounters and unanticipated revelations show her, and us, that sometimes life is neither fate nor chance: perhaps it’s nothing more than a little luck.

Publisher Review

"A striking meditation on loss and the search for home." -Publishers Weekly "A moving story about the courage to face the past and earn a chance at redemption." -Kirkus "Pineiro excels at creating poignant, emotive fiction which aims for both heart and head." -Jeremy Garber, Powell's Bookshop "I highly recommend A Little Luck by Claudia Pineiro." -Harvard Bookstore ********** Praise for Claudia Pineiro 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 "Contending with sorrow and illness, as well as the burdens of caregiving, bodily horrors, and forced presumptions in the lives of women, Elena Knows is a bold, visceral work of fiction." -Jeremy Garber, Powell's Bookshop "[Pineiro's] words work a kind of magic only very masterful literature does." -Lucy Writers "In Elena, Pineiro has created an uncommon Virgil who reminds readers of the damaging and even deadly effects of imposing one's convictions on others." -Necessary Fiction "A subtle and skilful exploration of how far women have the right to control their own bodies." -The Conversation "Riveting, revelatory and brilliantly imaginative." -Lonesome Reader **********