A review by katie_greenwinginmymouth
The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

adventurous dark funny fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

We follow China as she buddies up with a Scottish woman, Lis, and heads out into the pampas of Argentina to escape her husband and start a new life. China is only 14 and approaches the adventure with an amazing sense of openness and wonder, but also a bluntness and honesty that gives a very cutting commentary on colonialism in Argentina and life at its brutal frontier. 

The trip gives her a dramatic change in perspective - not least through the new knowledge she gains from Lis of the world but also through her own position in the landscape, from the widescreen view of the wagon moving through the flat landscape, to the birds eye view at the top of an ombú tree, getting down on all fours to see her dog Estreya’s perspective or looking at things upside down in a handstand. It’s playful but with a serious point - this physical displacement allows her to see other perspectives and to imagine the world from different social standings.

There is some incisive commentary on the effects of European empire building. I adored the writing and the way China follows rambling trains of thought and huge sweeping ideas with lush, colourful imagery. Like this passage that starts with drinking tea:

“We drink green mountains and rain, and we also drink what the Queen drinks. We drink the Queen, we drink work, and we drink the broken back of the man bent double as he cuts the leaves, and the broken back of the man carrying them. Thanks to steam power, we no longer drink the lash of the whip on the oarsmen’s backs. But we do drink choking coal miners. And that’s the way of the world: everything alive lives off the death of someone or something else.”

At some point China decides to chop her hair off and dress in men’s clothing, passing as Lis’s younger brother. This seems to be the first step towards China growing into a two spirit identity. As the journey goes on the sexual tension between China and Lis rises, culminating in some extremely hot sex scenes.
The ending is hallucinatory (literally - they are all on mushrooms), sensual and utopian and I adored it. It also serves to throw the rest of the novel into stark contrast and illustrates the difference between violent possession of the land by the colonisers and the intimate relationship of the indigenous people with the land. It was the perfect end to the journey.
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