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A review by jordanian_reads_
January by Sara Gallardo
4.0
Upon its original publication it in 1958, Sara Gallardo’s controversial feminist novella made waves in Argentina. Set in a conservative community in the pampas, January is an unsparing account of sixteen-year-old Nefer who guards the secret of her pregnancy while cycling between fear, anger and misery.
I thought the English translation by Riddle and Shaughnessy was excellent. The way they expressed Nefer’s inner turmoil and feeling of claustrophobia as she outwardly goes about her normal day was propulsive, and I read January in one sitting. Further, I found myself gripped by the vivid descriptions of the stifling heat and stark setting. For all that the English translation comes seventy years later, Nefer’s private bind feels extremely contemporary.
Thank you to Archipelago and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!
I thought the English translation by Riddle and Shaughnessy was excellent. The way they expressed Nefer’s inner turmoil and feeling of claustrophobia as she outwardly goes about her normal day was propulsive, and I read January in one sitting. Further, I found myself gripped by the vivid descriptions of the stifling heat and stark setting. For all that the English translation comes seventy years later, Nefer’s private bind feels extremely contemporary.
Thank you to Archipelago and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!