On the eve of an important battle, a colonel is visited in his tent by an indigenous woman with a message to pass on. A man sets about renovating the house of his childhood, and starts to feel that he might be rebuilding his own life in the process. At a private clinic to treat the morbidly obese, a caregiver has issues of her own...Jorge Consiglio presents a universe of seemingly unrelated tales, linked perhaps by a certain rhythm in the prose or the subtle dimensions of violence and perversion. These are stories of immigration, marginality, history, intimacy and obsession which are masterful and deeply touching. They each present their own distinctive view of the world through the lives of their respective characters - who are as dissimilar as they are complex - and the profound transformations they undergo. As reflections on the uncontrollable nature of life, as depictions of how even the most innocent detail can become a threat, these stories do not offer neat endings but rather remain open to the reader's sense of inquisitiveness.Southerly is a perfect introduction to what has been called 'the Consiglian logic of story-telling' (Cabezon Camara), in which events don't always occur sequentially, and where the reader quickly learns to tiptoe between the tiniest of details, as if walking through a minefield.

About the Author

Jorge Consiglio was born in Buenos Aires in 1962. He has published several novels including: El bien (The Good, 2003; Award for Emerging Writers, Opera Prima, Spain), Gramatica de la sombra (Grammar of the Shadows, 2007; Third Municipal Prize for Novels), Pequenas intenciones (Small Intentions, 2011; Second National Prize for Novels, First Municipal Prize for Novels, re-published in 2019), Hospital Posadas (2015), Tres Monedas (2018), published by Charco as Fate (2020) and Sodio (2021). They have all been awarded prizes in Argentina and in Spain. He has also published three collections of short stories, including Villa del Parque (2016), published by Charco Press as Southerly (2018), five books of poems and a book of essays.

Cherilyn Elston is an academic and translator, who specialises in Latin American history and literature. She holds a doctorate in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge and is the author of Women's Writing in Colombia: An Alternative History (2016). As the managing editor of Palabras Errantes , she has edited and published more than 150 translations of Latin American writers. She is a Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Reading.

Reviews

"Employing a language that is sharp, concise and visceral, it proves his talent as a natural storyteller and as a social chronicler and poet of some refinement." -Morning Star

"There is a timeless quality to Consiglio's prose...a storyteller of rare ingenuity." -Splice

"Glimmering." -Publishers Weekly

"[Consiglio] carves out a singular space by focusing on characters who do not quite have a place of their own." -Full Stop

"His stories are told with dispassionate realism while being varnished with a surrealist gloss, creating his own in-between style...Occasional poetic turns reminiscent of Pablo Neruda erupt within the narrative." -Culture Trip

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Praise for Jorge Consiglio

"A moving testament to the beauty and banality of human relationships." -Publishers Weekly

"A masterpiece that refuses to stay still." -Culture Trip

"Fate could be likened to a pointillist painting by Seurat, with each dab of colour and each descriptive passage contributing to what is finally a beautifully structured and brilliantly shimmering whole." -New York Magazine (The Strategist UK)

"In the realm of fiction, an author has total authority over their characters, and they can inject interactions with meaning and pattern-play in a way therapists warn us not to in our day to day lives. It takes a particular level of craftsmanship to do this at the level of the sentence, with the effortlessness that Consiglio seamlessly achieves, and to sweep a reader so tenderly into the progress." -White Review

"A muted and unhurried novel that insists on the validity of the imperfect present." -Kirkus

"The beauty of this novel...is that it provides no answers, but many questions. It can be reflected upon, re-read, and reconsidered." -BookBlast

"The language of Fate has teeth and claws." -Books and Bao

"Fate is a rich tapestry of language, a sharp depiction of the vagaries of fate and a thoughtful meditation on the human condition." -The Monthly Booking

"Consiglio's writing aches with poetry through its attention and complexity." -The Skinny

"Packed full of sensuality and written in fresh, candid prose." -The Quietus

"Employing a language that is sharp, concise and visceral, it proves his talent as a natural storyteller and as a social chronicler and poet of some refinement." -Morning Star

"There is a timeless quality to Consiglio's prose...a storyteller of rare ingenuity." -Splice

"Glimmering." -Publishers Weekly

"[Consiglio] carves out a singular space by focusing on characters who do not quite have a place of their own." -Full Stop

"His stories are told with dispassionate realism while being varnished with a surrealist gloss, creating his own in-between style...Occasional poetic turns reminiscent of Pablo Neruda erupt within the narrative." -Culture Trip

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Book Information
ISBN 9781999722760
Author Jorge Consiglio
Format Paperback
Page Count 102
Imprint Charco Press
Publisher Charco Press