Samanta Schweblin’s wildly imaginative novel – longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020 – explores the voyeurism and exhibitionism inherent in our digital lives
- Longlisted
- The International Booker Prize 2020
- Published by Oneworld
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Samanta Schweblin creates a dark and complex world that is both familiar and unsettling – largely because we recognise it as the one we live in
They’ve infiltrated homes in Hong Kong, shops in Vancouver, schools in Tel Aviv and bedrooms in Indiana. They’re not pets, nor ghosts, nor robots. They’re real people, anonymous and untraceable, connected remotely, and disguised as cute, cuddly toys.
Samanta Schweblin’s wildly imaginative novel reveals the beauty of connection between far-flung souls, the ugly truth of our increasingly linked world, as well as the voyeurism and exhibitionism inherent in our digital lives. In the world of the novel, trusting strangers can lead to unexpected love, playful encounters and marvellous adventures, but what if it can also pave the way for unimaginable terror?
Samanta Schweblin
Samanta Schweblin is the author of three story collections that have won numerous awards, and she has been nominated for the International Booker Prize three times
More about Samanta Schweblin 
Megan McDowell
Megan McDowell has translated books by many contemporary South American and Spanish authors, including Samanta Schweblin, Alejandro Zambra and Mariana Enriquez
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Other nominated books by Samanta Schweblin
Spine-tingling and strange, Samanta Schweblin's writing expertly blurs the line between the surreal and the everyday
Samanta Schweblin creates an aura of strange psychological menace and otherworldly reality in this taut, unsettling ghost story for the real world
Other nominated books by Megan McDowell
Mariana Enríquez populates contemporary urban Argentina with a macabre cast of crooked witches, unruly teenagers, homeless ghosts and hungry women
Spine-tingling and strange, Samanta Schweblin's writing expertly blurs the line between the surreal and the everyday
Samanta Schweblin creates an aura of strange psychological menace and otherworldly reality in this taut, unsettling ghost story for the real world
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