Read more
Friendship makes life worth living, and worth ending too.Eufrasia, a woman pressed by economic needs in a country with big class gaps, has become essential company for some of them. If she managed to raise enough money to buy enough guinea pigs, she could start a new life, as her uncle always told her. So, every day, she travels across the city on public transport to help Doña Carmen, who needs extra support because she's been feeling down lately and has lost almost all touch with her daughter. Eufrasia is good with emotional support, so good in fact that she starts to work for another neighbour in the same building: Jack Harrison, a retired, widowed, and deeply lonely doctor who enjoys jazz and whisky. She will also begin working at the local nursing home, where a group of elders have built a family and call themselves "The Magnificent Seven".Despite Eufrasia's care, the lives of these characters are drowned in medication, bland meals at regular hours, TV movies, ailments, and the occasional conversation, only to remember that the end is around the corner. Eufrasia is aware of all this, and she also knows that her close relationship and the trust she has managed to establish with all of them will end up bringing her to a crossroads.
About the author
Gustavo Rodríguez (Lima, 1968) is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Latin American literature, and is also known for his creative work in the media. He has published, among other titles, the novels La furia de Aquiles , La risa de tu madre (Herralde Novel Prize Finalist) and La semana tiene siete mujeres (Planeta-Casamérica Prize Finalist). He has also written children’s and YA books that are read in schools throughout South America. He was the winner of the 2023 edition of the prestigious Alfaguara Prize for his novel One Hundred Guinea Pigs .
Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and actual human translator. His work has won him the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the International Dublin Literary Award and been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, among many others. His translations for Charco Press include novels from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru. He is the author of Catching Fire: A Translation Diary .
