Daughter by Ana María Shua

Guido and Esmé are a young and perhaps idealistic couple when an atrocious dictatorship takes over Argentina. It begins to decimate others as young as they. Although they are not militants, the death of Esmé’s sister triggers their decision to leave the country. Once in Paris, they become “Sudacas,” as Parisians like to refer to people from Latin America They manage to survive, though. A few years later, the couple returns to their country and begin a difficult quest to conceive a child. When Esmé finally manages to conceive and give birth to Natalia, she feels that there is no other baby more beautiful, more intelligent, more wonderful in the world. But soon some signs appear in her daughter’s character that are confusing at first, only to become terrifying later. Ana María Shua alternates the haunting story of a mother and her daughter with the diary of the construction of that story. In both, reality and fiction are two sides of the same bizarre coin. Daughter is, without a doubt, one of the best novels by one of the best contemporary Argentine writers.

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Ana María Shua (born 1951) is an Argentine writer. She is particularly well known for her work in microfiction. Shua has published over eighty books in numerous genres including novels, short stories, microfiction, poetry, drama, children’s literature, books of humor and Jewish folklore, anthologies, film scripts, journalistic articles, and essays. She has received numerous national and international awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and is one of Argentina’s premier living writers.

Posted: April 11, 2021 at 7:31 pm