From a prize-winning novelist and screenwriter, a story of two teenagers, two countries, and the differences that divide them

The Fish Child (cloth)

Lucía Puenzo, translated by David William Foster

Lucía Puenzo weaves a densely packed tale about a plot filled with crazy sensuousness, brutality, dejection and secrets. The Fish Child is like a violent phantom chase. . . . Incredibly sweet, infinitely cruel. —Le Monde

A strange mixture of fury, passion and sensibility. —La Nación

[Puenzo’s] narrative élan is absolutely rousing. —Der Spiegel

Affluent Lala and impoverished Guayi, her Paraguayan maid, are determined to pursue their romance despite overwhelming disparities in class and status. Although they have plotted a future together near Paraguay’s Ypacaraí Lake, Guayi’s native region, a shocking discovery and an even more shocking reaction lead Lala to depart without her disappeared lover.

As she ventures by bus far from her privileged Buenos Aires home, Lala delves into Guayi’s past, in due time encountering the disturbing legend of the fish boy who is said to guide drowning victims to the bottom of the lake. By turns sordid, thrilling, and comic, Puenzo’s debut novel explores the character and choices of two strong-willed young women through the vehicle of the economic and social circumstances of two South American nations where archaic elements coexist with shrill modernity.

Lucía Puenzo, whose film adaptation of her first novel, El Niño Pez (The Fish Child), premiered at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival, earned her degree in literature at the University of Buenos Aires and studied at the National Film Institute. As a scriptwriter of feature films, documentaries, and miniseries for film and television, she received a foreign-language Oscar nomination and the Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival for XXY. David William Foster is the Regents’ Professor of Spanish and Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University and the author of numerous works on Latino literature and culture.

Additional resources for this title include downloadable hi-res images and supplemental resources, where available:
Cover image
Author headshot
Author headshot
Press Release
Promotional flyer
Event poster
FREE teaching supplement
Author's website