Thank you so much Charco Press for gifting me an early copy of Dead Girls by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott! I hope this book will make it on to reading lists far and wide, as it’s such a necessary piece of writing. It comes out on the 3rd September in the UK.
The Book
Almada focuses on three unsolved femicides which took place in Argentina during the 80s. Andrea Danne, 19, María Luisa Quevedo, 15, and Sarita Mundín, 20, were all murdered in the inteior of Argentina. Selva Almada went to their hometowns, conducted research, did interviews with the families. These are all real cases where two teenagers and a 20-year-old died and their killer walked away.
Translation & Style
There’s a very interesting interview with the translator of this book (and Minor Detail’s translator Elisabeth Jaquette) on @fitzcarraldoeditions Instagram. McDermott talks about how difficult it is to categorise this book. It’s almost a novel, almost true crime, almost a piece of extended journalism… but at the same time it’s none of those things. In translating it, she had to do her best to stay within that same indistinct area. If she didn’t, she would run the risk of changing it into something else entirely.
For me personally, it reads like a novel. However, Almada constantly reminds us that these girls existed and the crimes perpetrated against them did happen. Almada reminds the reader frequently that she or her friends could just have easily been one of those girls. As much as other people might try to find some way to blame them for their own deaths (‘she was working as a prostitute’, ‘she started working as a maid at too young an age’), you cannot escape the fact that they were murdered for being girls and there was no justice. Almada exposes the botched investigations, the apprehension of wrong suspects, how effort put into the searches varied depending on the victim’s social class and her family’s money.
A harrowing but crucial read
It was all difficult to read, but there was one part that hit me the hardest. They uncovered the bones of one girl, Sarita, at a time when DNA testing wasn’t available. Once it was, her sister insisted on exhuming them and testing them. They found that the bones were not a match. So for however many years, these bones, the bones of some other girl, had been resting under Sarita’s name. What happened to Sarita? Who was the other girl? Was anyone looking for her? These are questions Selva Almada doesn’t answer, couldn’t possibly answer. That isn’t what she set out to do.
Truly an incredible piece of writing, however you want to categorise it. Femicide is a more urgent issue than ever, in Argentina and worldwide, only increasing under lockdown rules. Since the start of 2020, a reported 148 femicides have been committed. This book is a powerful, timely and sobering look at a deadly issue that will leave you feeling frustrated but ready to act and further informed.
Check out the organisations Ni Una Menos for more information on femicide in Argentina. And be sure to get yourself a copy of Dead Girls when it releases on the 3rd of September.
If you enjoy my reviews and would like to support me in a small way, please consider shopping through my Blackwell’s affiliate link. You can preorder Dead Girls and I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you – thank you!
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I really like the way you structure your reviews, Abbie! It makes them very easy to read.
I can’t imagine what it must be like to not know what happened to a family member / loved one. Sounds like Almada is highlighting a really important issue with her book.
Very interesting to get that insight from the translator too. I wonder how they often work, e.g. how many times might they read a novel before translating it? I know I definitely miss things when I read something just once, and it must sometimes be hard to get all the nuances when translating.
Aw thanks Steph! Right? I think they must have to read it at least twice. Although saying that, I’m sure I remember an interview with Ann Goldstein, who translates Elena Ferrante, where she said that the first time she read one of the books was when she opened it to start translating it! So she just opened it up and started, which is crazy to me, ha! I might look that up now to see if I’m just totally making it up…
Haha, I guess everyone has to find what works well for them! And when you know an author’s style really well, it must be easier to just dive right in ?
Hi! I’ve found your blog through instagram and I love it. Your reviews are so well written and the books you recommend are super interesting, not the usual you see everywhere else.
I’m from Argentina and a big fan of Almada, you should read her novels too 🙂 Thank you for speaking about Ni Una Menos, it’s really important. Here when we organize protests we say that we’re screaming for all the women who no longer have a voice, like the three women Alamada wrote about.
Hi Daniela! That’s so kind of you, thank you! 🙂
I think the only novel of hers that’s been translated is The Wind That Lays Waste, which I have read and really enjoyed! And of course, it’s such an important issue that needs talking about more.