Gabriela Cabezón Cámara’s joyful, hallucinatory novel is also an incisive critique of national myths and a requiem for the casualties of ‘progress’. Translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre.

1872, Argentina. China is a young woman eking out an existence in a remote gaucho camp. After her no-good husband is conscripted, China bolts for freedom, setting off on a wagon journey through the pampas in the company of her new-found friend Liz, a settler from Scotland.  This subversive retelling of Argentina’s foundational gaucho epic, Martín Fierro, is a celebration of the colour and movement of the living world, the open road, love and sex, and the dream of lasting freedom.

Shortlisted
The 2020 International Booker Prize
Published by
Charco Press
Publication date

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Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

About the Author

Gabriela Cabezón Cámara was born in Buenos Aires. She is one of the leading figures in Argentinian and Latin American literature.
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Fiona Mackintosh

Fiona Mackintosh

About the Translator

Fiona Mackintosh is a Senior Lecturer in Latin American Literature at the University of Edinburgh with research interests in gender studies, comparative literature and literary translation.
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Iona Macintyre

Iona Macintyre

About the Translator

Iona Macintyre is a Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
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