When her daughter’s death is ruled to be suicide, Elena embarks on a trip across the city to find answers, battling the Parkinson’s that has riddled her body.

This one was all over certain parts of Bookstagram when it was longlisted then shortlisted for the International Booker earlier this year, and with good reason. On the surface it’s a mystery - what really happened to Elena’s daughter? - but beneath, it’s a broiling social commentary with the thread of lack of control of one’s body running through it, whether through motherhood or disease or societal expectations. Just shy of 150 pages, this is a tiny book, and yet Piñeiro successfully throws in the indignities of Parkinson’s (I loved that the flow of the story was dictated by Elena’s medication schedule) and ageing, motherhood and the associated choices (or lack thereof), a difficult mother-daughter relationship (how well can you really know another person?) and the Catholic Church’s doctrines around women, their impacts and the way the church peddles shame and guilt like there’s no tomorrow. This is a distinctly Argentinian story in terms of Elena’s everyday life, but it’s broadly relevant to any country where the church maintains a heavy grip on social and/or political life. A short, impactful and multi-faceted exploration of motherhood, losing control of one’s body and the insidious grip of the Catholic Church on Argentinian daily life, packaged up as a mystery.