Elena Knows

 

Elena Knows / Claudia Pineiro
trans. from the Spanish by Frances Riddle
Edinburgh: Charco Press, 2021, c2007.
143 p.

I picked up this book thanks to the many recommendations I've seen for it, and for this writer in general. But I didn't know much about the actual story going in. That made it a surprise in many ways, and a very good one. I really liked this; the style, the character development and the structure of the book all impressed me. 

Elena has Parkinson's. And this plays a big role in how she can function in the story, and why. She has lived with her adult daughter Rita for a long time; but Rita has just been found hanged in the bell tower of the local church. Elena knows that there is someone responsible - there is no way Rita would have even gone near the church on a rainy day, to begin with.

Her quest for someone to listen to her takes her across Buenos Aires to call in a debt, to get another woman's help. The book is broken into sections "Second Pill", "Third Pill" etc, as Elena has to depend on her medication taking effect to be able to continue moving, quite literally. Her journey is an epic one, by train and taxi to get to an outlying suburb and find the woman she's looking for. When she gets there, assumptions are turned upside down, truths come out, and Elena must question what she thinks she knows. 

The structure is fantastic: it really highlights Elena's restricted physical movement, contrasted with the constant refrain of the things Elena knows. Pineiro is a crime novelist and uses some crime tropes here - there is the mystery of who killed Rita to drive the story - but it's not about crime and it's not easily wrapped up. 

Pineiro uses this setup to explore women's lives in many different aspects. It looks at women as bodies: where is the bodily autonomy for women in a society that places so much judgement and control on women's freedom -- whether that's in the form of disability, reproductive rights, marital norms, religious control, sexual violence or just freedom of movement? This book points out so many shades of patriarchal control. It's a powerful read, with strong characters and a writing style that drew me in completely. Highly recommend reading this - maybe it isn't pleasant, but it's so meaningful.