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A lot to think about here and none of it comfortable. Highly recommend!

One striking aspect I noted is Elena refers to her Parkinson‘s in derogatory feminine terms. Weakness of mind & body and lack of control is the condition imposed on women in Elena‘s world.

Only a third into this slim novel and it‘s quite thought provoking. The pace suits the main character!

It‘s been 2 weeks in 1 here. Plus I caught my first cold since before Covid. 😩 Whine & wine.

#BookReport
I am happy to report that I read - Elena Knows - 👍🏻♥️
- Magpie Lane - very good !

And I‘ve only a half hour left on the audio of - Dinosaurs - ( which I‘ll wrap up on my morning walk ) really enjoying it too.

Hi Cindy ! ♥️

I couldn‘t put this down. The impact this novel had on me shocked me. So brilliantly done. It‘s like she squeezes these three womens lives into a ball and rolls it to us ( towards some ‘overwhelming question‘ , Eliots words came back to me ).
It‘s like she rolls the ball to us and leaves us with a bang, asking .. ‘ so what do you make of all that ? ‘
Which is a question I will be thinking about.
Powerful book.
All the stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow - this book is simple in construction and super intense with emotion. It‘s amazing! I felt I was experiencing the world anew through the pained eyes of a mother suffering from advanced Parkinson‘s. It‘s the tiny details of how she sees the world, navigates some independence and manages her body and the illness. Along side that there is a strong thread around abortion and a woman‘s right to choose - echoing the authors political activism.

Starting this tonight #2 of my #auldlangspine list from @rockpools Excited to discover a new author, a new imprint and I think it‘s also my first Brazilian read. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

#12booksof2022

My April favorite was undoubtedly this one. A unique book about the relationship between a mother and daughter, navigating between dependence, hate and love, but also about aging and Parkinson‘s disease. A very sad and beautiful story.

Starting off my #auldlangspine stack ready for January 1! Still have three more books to add to the stack - but a fab reading month is starting to take shape! You‘ve picked me so FAB ones @rockpools

5 🌟 Exquisite writing. A story of mothers and daughters, and how we deal with what life hands us. Highly recommend!

a sandwich with mayonnaise. this is not pure story. tied up with advocacy. doesn‘t completely ruin it. bleak faux mystery.

10:30 on a Summer Night
Happening
Swallow

3.5 stars

A wonderful gift from Jess! @jhod 😘

I‘ve been wanting to read this book for ages, as so many of my favourite people here on Litsy have read it and loved it. And isn‘t the Charco Press tote bag lovely?!

This was a tough read because, as the primary caretaker of a disabled parent, I‘ve often wondered what would happen if I died. I ached at the loneliness and frustration Elena felt, and I feared for her future.

Elena has Parkinson‘s. Her daughter was found dead in the church belfry of an apparent suicide, but Elena knows that couldn‘t be the case. She heads on a perilous journey across Buenos Aries to the one woman who can help.

Read for Women in Translation month. Wow. So much is achieved in this short novel. Wonderfully crafted and rich in it's messaging and thought provoking observation. I certainly want to read more of Pineiro's work and from Charco Press if this is the caliber of work produced.

#alphabetgame #letterE
Two of the 5-star books that I‘ve read in 2022 start with the letter E.
Debbie, thanks for tagging me. 🤗

Dammit Amazon. Get your sh!t together! I only ordered two books on Prime Day and there‘s an issue. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

So much of this book sneaks up on you. So short and yet so impactful. You start off introduced to Elena, a mother trying to determine who killed her daughter, even though it was clearly a suicide. You then begin to feel you‘re living in Elena‘s body as she navigates the world with Parkinson‘s. The writing puts you squarely in her body. And then … you learn the rest. A five-star read for me.

🌿 Harvard (The Idiot by Elif Batuman)
🌿🌿 Tagged. So good and a perfect book club choice. Mine met last night and we had such a great discussion.
🌿🌿🌿 Upgrade by Blake Crouch

#wondrouswednesday
@Eggs

Phenomenal. Incredibly poignant. A powerful examination of women‘s autonomy and one of the most effective portraits of living with a debilitating disease (Parkinson‘s in this case) that I‘ve ever read.

I‘ll be discussing this one with my IRL book club this week. Our first meeting since the pandemic! Should be a good one. Lots to unpack.

Don‘t let the sparse page count fool you. This is a powerful story expertly written & translated. Elena, a middle age woman suffering from advanced Parkinson‘s Disease is barely able to move without her daily pills. When her only child is found dead in the church belfry, Elena knows it had to be foul play and not suicide like the police ruled. Determined to solve the murder, Elena sets out across the city to visit a woman whom she 👇🏽

#SaturdayStats I think I‘ll pick this one up today, it under 150 pages and then I plan on starting #CampLitsy #TrueBiz
What are your reading plans for today??

Books read this month. Favorite is tagged.

Look at this wonderful #BookMail 😍Thank you so much for all the goodies and the surprise book @BarbaraBB ❣️❣️❣️Excited to read BOTH books. I really appreciate your friendship & generosity xx

We have heard about literature healing wounds, but what about the kind that instead reopens said wounds and splashes boiling water on them instead? Reading Claudia Piñeiro's magnificent ELENA KNOWS felt like that. A book that hits so close to home that it ends up bruising one's soul leaving indelible marks in its wake....(continued in comments)

A brilliant and compassionate book about women‘s bodies,women‘s complicity in the ceding of control over those bodies, but also about how we do lose control through ageing and disease. Bodies prevail. I loved how the novel plays with knowledge and perspective through a very simple well told story. And Elena is a remarkable character. I loved it!

Friday #bookmail! I have high hopes for this one. I‘ve seen so many great reviews of this lately and it sounds fantastic.

This is a mystery of sorts. It's about Elena and her daughter who died in an apparent suicide. The book is actually more about what Elena doesn't know. This is on the International Booker shortlist.

My first experience with Hoopla. Didn't hate it. Definitely a worthy backup plan.

A short book about a mother‘s quest to figure out who murdered her daughter, when the police have determined it to be a suicide. The mom has Parkinson‘s and struggles to even get through her day. Really interesting ending.

This book broke my heart. 💔 Elena is such an incredible character, and the painstaking account of her physical and emotional journey over the course of a day is why I read books. Based on the books I‘ve read on the Booker shortlist, I‘d love for this one to win.

#BookerInternationalShortlist2022 Book 3

Wow this book is devastating I love everything about it my favourite from the list so far.

Full review here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4679348071

Still catching up with reviews from #InternationalBookerPrize2022. This is the one I came away from with a firm commitment to read everything else the author has in English!

Elena knows that her daughter would never have gone to the church in the rain, would never have taken her own life in that way. So Elena travels acoss Buenos Aires to investigate. Beautiful writing & translation. And yes, I cried.

Full review: https://rb.gy/fkd4xr

Elena‘s daughter and caregiver has been found dead in the belfry. The police has ruled it a suicide, but Elena doesn‘t believe them. She decides to visit an old friend, someone she hasn‘t seen in 20 yrs, Isabel.

We follow Elena on her trip across town to visit Isabel, and how Elena has to plan her trip according to her medication. She has Parkinson. It made an impression to read how Elena can‘t move and se beyond a certain point.

I felt like this book reached into my chest & clutched at my heart. I sat sobbing after I was done. The other Litsy reviews have elegantly summed up what it's about. The force of this book speaks personally to me & I'm sure it will to many others. It's cleverly constructed; the novel is organised according to how Elena's ailing body responds to her meds, & in doing so, reconstructs time. Bodies, carework, mothering as a choice/duty. Unforgettable.

Elena has Parkinson's, her daily activities depend on the times when she takes her medicine, and is able to move for a few hours. Elena needs those hours to find out who killed her daughter.
Moving between past and present, Piñeiro not only paints a beautiful portrait of the relationship between mother and daughter, navigating between dependence, hate & love, but also of aging and disease. A sad and beautiful story.
#internationalBookerPrize2022

Set over the course of one day, a woman severely disabled by Parkinson‘s disease travels across Buenos Aires in order to solve the mystery of her daughter‘s death. Elena is an unforgettable character and this novel is also deeply feminist. Loved it.

“What‘s wrong Elena, why are you crying?”
“They treated me kindly son,” she said, and couldn‘t say anything more.

Elena suffers from Parkinson‘s disease and she is desperate to find out what happened to her daughter. Timeline of the story is one day, and while Elena takes trip across the city, we are transferred into her mind, her complicated relation with her daughter, her progressive disease … Beautiful written, with painful description of illness and physical limitations of human bodies, ageing, struggles of the caregivers … Powerful and bleak.

Elena Knows is from previous #weeklyforecast and for this month Food and Lit, but I think that I will finished it today, Maid and Dead Dead Girls are for Booked 2022, and Trust is just because the premise sounds interesting. Happy reading week🤓

Rita was found hanging from the church belfry. Dead. On a rainy afternoon. That, the rain, Elena knows, is important detail. Even though everyone says it was suicide. Friend or not, everyone says so. But as much as they try to convince her, or remain silent, no one can refute the fact that Rita never went near the church when it even threatened rain. She wouldn't be caught dead there, her mother would've said if anyone had asked her before.