A groundbreaking voice in contemporary Latin American literature,
María Fernanda Ampuero's writing is "raw and savage" as she confronts
machismo, inequity, and violence in this acclaimed short story
collection (Vistazo).
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An undocumented woman answers a job posting only to find herself held
hostage, a group of outcasts obsess over boys drowned while surfing, and
an unhappy couple finds themselves trapped in a terrifying maze. With
scalpel-like precision, Ampuero considers the price paid by those on the
margins so that the elite might lounge comfortably, considering
themselves safe in their homes.
Simultaneously terrifying and exquisite, Human Sacrifices is "tropical
gothic" at its finest--decay and oppression underlie our humid and
hostile world, where working-class women and children are consistently
the weakest links in a capitalist economy. Against this backdrop of
corrosion and rot, these twelve stories contemplate the nature of
exploitation and abuse, illuminating the realities of those society
consumes for its own pitiless ends.