Description

Life after crime from the International Booker-shortlisted author of Elena Knows

Fifteen years after killing her husband’s lover, Ines is fresh out of prison and trying to put together a new life. Her old friend Manca is out now too, and they’ve started a business – FFF, or Females, Fumigation, and Flies – dedicated to pest control and private investigation, by women, for women. But Senora Bonar, one of their clients, wants Ines to do more than kill bugs – she wants her expertise, and her criminal past, to help her kill her husband’s lover, too. Crimes against women versus crimes by women; culpability, fallibility, and our responsibilities to each other-this is Pineiro at her wry, earthy best, alive to all the ways we shape ourselves to be understandable, to be understood, by family and love and other hostile forces.

Publisher Review

"This propulsive novel lays bare the struggles of living under patriarchy." -Publishers Weekly "Time of the Flies is orchestral: a page turner that is also a crime novel, a thriller, a meditation on feminism, our choices, our lack of choices. As Pineiro unpacks her Pandora box of stories, voices, preoccupations, characters, you wonder, how on earth will she weave them together? Not that you care-her ability to be everybody and everything, including flies, carries you along. An absorbing read, for sure, and oh what a satisfying pleasure to see all the pieces come together-painful satisfaction, because then, you know, the novel will soon be over."" -Julia Alvarez , author of HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS and IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES "Like fabric, this book is woven from different textualities. Intermittently, a chorus appears who comment, in the style of Ancient Greek theatre, on what is happening. (...) Combined with these voices are texts from well-known figures: Rebecca Solnit, Rita Segato, Judith Butler, Vivian Gornick, Marguerite Duras..." -Infobae "The novel portrays the new life of the main character and the culture shock she experiences on encountering a world that is much more feminist than the one she remembers, when she only knew a single way to be a woman." -elDiarioAR "The intellectual, artistic and creative challenges expressed in Time of the Flies confront us with the destruction of the archetypes of specific periods, where the resistances and oppositions are intense and come from all sides." -Diario Cine y Literatura CL "A detective novel that corroborates this writer's experience with the genre and her capacity to travel to the darkest corners of the human soul, always from multiple perspectives." -Hermeneuta Revista Cultural "Once inside (as you will find out for yourself) there is no let-up." -El Espanol "As they try to rebuild their lives on release from prison, Ines and Manca experience ups and downs that show them that love is not always what we call love and that we do not always feel what we really think we feel. In the realm of the emotions, there are no absolute truths either." -Tiempo Argentino "It is a stimulating exercise to imagine the challenges characters who embody a particular period would face in the present day. This is what Pineiro attempts here, and hits the nail on the head with Ines, who resonates with irreverent questions about the possibility of being contemporary and wholly genuine at the same time." -La Nacion "Pineiro interweaves the stories of Ines and Manca in a kind of suburban Thelma and Louise, with a chorus of women who debate subjects such as the achievements of feminism, inclusive language and abortion, among other matters" -Pagina/12 ********** 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 "Subverting genre expectations." -The Arts Fuse ************ "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 "An investigation into the limits of narrative, Claudia Pineiro's latest cements the writer as a giant of Argentine literature. (5 stars)" -The Skinny "A Little Luck is a thrilling read, a page turner, a mystery, a psychological deep dive into character."" -Julia Alvarez , author of HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS and IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES "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 "Pineiro is quickly establishing herself to English readers as a novelist capable of utter devastation, but she consistently offers a little hope in the dark. " -The Big Issue "A must-read." -Morning Star "Pineiro once again demonstrates her expertise in suspense and intrigue." -Sounds & Colours "Examines the plight of those who, for no fault of their own, are abandoned by the community and shunned by society." -The Arts Fuse "The writing and pacing are superb...there's not a dull moment to be had." -Tony's Reading List **********