by Selva Almada
First published 2024
Enero fishes with El Negro and Tilo on a sweltering afternoon by the river where their friend once drowned. When a hooked stingray refuses to surrender, Enero fires his revolver into the water and kills it. The men string up the massive corpse at their campsite and leave it to decay. Local islanders notice the rotting carcass and their anger toward these careless outsiders begins to boil over. Only two teenage sisters show interest in the trio, their black hair gleaming like cowbird feathers as they invite the men to a dance. But the girls conceal their true nature. As darkness falls and hostility mounts, Enero and El Negro retreat into memories of their drowned friend. The river holds their guilt and desire in its waters.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: River, Island
Period: Sweltering Afternoon
99 pages · Kindle Edition · Graywolf Press
Content warnings: death, violence