January

16-year old Nefer discovers she is pregnant and knows she'll be in big trouble in her small and very Catholic community. Only in a few weeks time her belly will start to show.

The story is set somewhere middle 20th century in a rural community in the Argentine pampa.

Nefer is so worried that she tries to think of ways to get rid of the child or maybe run away. There are people willing to help, but also not that much. The main questions the book asks are how much do other people really care? And shouldn't we try to care less about what other people might think of us?

Only after finishing I found out it was written in 1956! I had no idea and - even though it is clearly not innovative (no horror elements which contemporary Argentine authors like to include) the prose feels really fresh! I can imagine it being revolutionary and contributing to the abortion debate back in the day.

The (excellent) translation will come out in September from Archipelago Books.

Recommended!

I think the big surprise about this novella is that it was written in the middle of the last century. It certainly feels like a much more modern novel. It is also quite shocking that it has taken this long to be translated into English.

Nefer, a 16 year old girl living with her family on the Argentine pampas, discovers she is pregnant after a rape. The book follows her reaction and fears - including what she should do and how to tell her family. The main themes are that of family, religion and backstreet abortion. Nefer is, at first resolved to get rid of the unwanted guest but what will happen if her family find out. If she cannot get rid of the baby should she run or end her own life?

The book certainly gets inside the mind of a terrified young woman feeling utterly helpless to deal with a situation she had no choice about.

For such a short book it delivers a huge punch. I read it straight through. I would certainly recommend it.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Archipelago Books for the advance review copy.

In rural Argentina in the 1950s, Nefer is pregnant. Her body has not yet given away her secret, but it has betrayed her all the same; to Nefer, her body and the boy she yearns after and the man whose child she carries have all betrayed her.

"What is a day? What is the world when everything inside you shudders?" (loc. 89)

First published in 1958, this is a novella far ahead of its time. Exploring themes of rape, abortion, class, and powerlessness—to name just a few—every sentence packs a punch. I don't want to say too much about the plot (it did not go where I expected it to, but the end makes far more sense than anything I predicted), but the character work here is masterful. Gallardo is so deep in Nefer's mind and soul here as Nefer worries and daydreams and tries to imagine a way out of her predicament, as she milks the cows and goes to her yearly confession—more on that in a moment—and wrestles with the fact that there is nobody who can offer the support and compassion she needs, and chances of a good outcome are slim.

"Nefer tightens her grip on the damp reins and runs her tongue over her lips. Then she extinguishes her soul and continues along the road, which curves before reaching the house." (loc. 277)

The yearly confession is a not the main point of the book, but it sticks with me. This is rural Argentina more than half a century ago, remember; it's a small community where everybody knows everybody else's business—not a large enough community to have a priest of their own. Theirs is a travelling priest, then, not always the same one from year to year, catching up on confessions and baptisms and the formalities of marriage, a powerful figure but not one with a real connection to the community. I'm fascinated by the practical nature of the way marriages that might have been in effect for most of a year are "certified"—made right in the eyes of the Catholic church, I suppose—practical, and yet it's so clearly understood in the community that this lack of formality is acceptable for only so long. Stepping outside the accepted order of things is only acceptable in certain circumstances, and can only be forgiven in certain ways.

Most of Gallardo's work has not, as far as I can tell, been translated into English, but I hope more follows. If this had been written in 2023, I think I'd call it a high four stars, but given the context of time and place I'm bumping it up to five.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Narratives concerning abortion, and motherhood in general, often tread a fine line. There is a respect necessary granted upon the bearers of children, contrasted against the vitriol of a society which rejects a parent's right to choose . This novel treads that line, exposing societal hypocrisies while managing to treat its protagonist with the tenderness she endears.

“January” – Sara Gallardo (translated by Frances Riddle and Maureen Shaughnessy)



My thanks to @netgalley and @archipelagobooks for my copy of this in exchange for an honest review. This one is published 17th October in the US.

Brace yourself, this is a brutal book – TW for r*** and a****ion.



Nefer is a 16-year-old girl growing up in a small town on the Argentine pampas. Her life is one of innocence and simple pleasures, such as crushes on local boys and dances in the sweltering summer. All that changes after an attack by an older man at one such party leaves her pregnant, causing her to have to deal with the internal shame dictated by her society and her desire for her pregnancy to end.

Originally published in 1957, this must have gone off like a bombshell at the time, and it’s still dark and powerful today. In a very short book, Gallardo is able to cover the ways in which Nefer is held back and shamed. She feels completely unable to tell her family due to the abuse she will receive, both physical and emotional, but there’s no other support for her. The church is a source of community support, but the mere thought of confession terrifies her, and she is equally appalled by the idea of visiting the woman known to help girls in her situation.

What Gallardo does fantastically is convey all this fear and darkness whilst leaving the details in the shadows. This is not an explicit book in the way of a lot of modern Argentine fiction, but is very much a precursor in terms of themes and even prose. The style feels very modern, which could be due to the translation, and it is constantly gripping watching Nefer struggle through a horror not of her own doing.

If you can handle it, this is a great book to invest your time in, powerful in all the best ways. Recommended.

January by the Argentine author Sara Gallardo, translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle and Maureen Shaughnessy, is a short yet impactful novella, considered a feminist text highlighting a rape survivors ordeal from her own perspective.
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This novella, also Gallardo's first, written in the 1950s is about Nefer, a 16 year old farm girl in the Argentine Pampas who discovers she is pregnant. I would have liked to go into this book without any prior knowledge of the theme as I think the impact of this book lies in the discovery of the why? Nonetheless I still didn't see or expect the ending to be what it was and it still hit me hard and made me very sad.
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Gallardo plays up Nefer's dilemma, goes deep in her mind. She is worried she will show soon and in a time and era where abortion was impossible to think of, this teenager went through every possibility in her mind to get rid of this growing being, of trying to find ways to exercise her choice. Confess to the family? Confess to the Church? Get an abortion? Run away? All of it while her teenage mind dreams of a life with her crush. It almost feels like it's a choice that went wrong until u reach the end of the book. Gallardo almost cleverly makes the reader also at points put on their judgemental glasses. That's just how social conditioning works!
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This book is touted to have started a conversation around abortion in the Argentine society, an important topic given a woman's authority on her own body and choices are as much up for debate today as it was when this was book was published. It's sad to see how we have almost not moved anywhere from then.

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Thank you @netgalley and @Archipelagobooks for the e-ARC.

This new publication of Sara Gallardo's groundbreaking novel, January, tells the story of young Nefer, who struggles with the reality of pregnancy after rape. Set in mid-century Argentina, the book discusses the social and religious pressures that keep Nefer silent as she determines whether to pursue an illegal abortion.

This novel was revolutionary at the time of its original publication in 1958, and through the lens of issues in current post-Roe America, this feminist text was still powerful. I found Nefer's conflicting feelings regarding her pregnancy both fascinating and heartbreaking, as she tries to balance her morals with her loneliness, disconnect from her family, and longing for a man who does not even notice her. Gallardo's prose (and Riddle and Shaughnessy's translation) do credit to such a difficult subject in such a short piece.

"There's no going back, time keeps passing and everything grows, and after growth comes death. But you can never go backwards."

Nefer is a 16 year old girl living in 20th century Argentina. She is raped and subsequently falls pregnant. In a time where abortion is not only taboo but illegal, Nefer must navigate what her new reality looks like.

"Like a pale scar that suddenly burns red with exertion, her grandmother's blood flared up in her veins. Nefer had barely known the woman and yet she lived on inside her."

This was first published in Spanish in 1958 and it is being released in English for the first time since. Frances Riddle and Maureen Shaughnessy did a seamless job translating. Even though this was written 65 years ago, the subject matter is just as pertinent now as it was then. Sara wrote a book that will withstand the test of time.

"She's filled with a dark sadness and thinks: why me, and not somebody else? These things have to happen to somebody, but why me?"

I caught myself thinking a couple times "gosh, she is just so immature" and then I caught myself... Nefer is only 16. Of course she has a crush on Negro. Of course she has thoughts that a 16 year old girl would have. It would be sad no matter how old the character is, but it was sobering to be reminded of her youth.

At only 114 pages, January is a thought provoking story that will stick with me for a long time.

This is actually written in 1958, recently translated from Spanish to English by Frances Riddle & Maureen Shaughnessy.
Given the consideration to the topic it handles ,it was much ahead of its time. The chaos of the situation will still follow, of course back then but even now in the present.

It is a story of a 16 years old farm girl in Argentine pampa - Nefer who like every other girl of her age wants to be noticed by her crush. But her utter shock and horror is raped by a man in her town and as a result is now pregnant. January discusses Nefer's situation in distress and fear of how to get rid of the baby.

It saddens me always that the brunt of a horrible crime such as rape has to be born by women only. The questions like how, why and what always has to be faced by women but never a man. The consequences of someone's action are bestowed upon someone who was never at fault. This young girl, she has to figure out how to tell her family about it and then how to get rid of this unwanted pregnancy.

The books which discusses the morality of abuse, whether sexual or mental and then age long moral dilemma of abortion are always difficult reads and January is no exception. Well translated, it keeps reader on the edge and one can't stop but feel sad for Nefer.

Thank you Netgalley and archipelago for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I received this eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

Sara Gallardo was an Argentinian author, and this was her first novel (really, a novella) written in the 1950s and just now being translated into English. It is a lyrical look into the thoughts of a teenage girl living in rural Argentina confronting the realities of the search for freedom and autonomy for women. Many of the promotional blurbs and reviews I see describe the young woman’s situation, although I think the story would have the most impact if read in one sitting with limited knowledge of the plot.

My heart! This was a riveting, if devastating, story told from the perspective of a survivor of sexual assault. A sketch of the small town she has grown up in takes on more detail as the story unfolds; class and racial divides, small town politics, religious doctrines, all culminating in a decided lack of choice or freedom, especially for young girls with minimal socioeconomic privileges.

Her teenage dreams and desires are blunted, life as she knew it spiralling into a nightmare as she is forced to live with the unwanted consequences of that fateful night. More troubling is the seeming lack of care and support she receives, be it actively or through passive inaction, that leads her further down the spiral. Shame is a force that blinds people, even those closest to you, from seeing you as you are. Even when they do, even if shame is absent, the almighty fear of ostracism and the lack of real choices (or the freedom to make these) reigns supreme.

The writing was stunning, taut yet cinematic at times, as was the articulation of a teenage girl’s growing despair over her predicament. Her lingering, age-appropriate preoccupations over her crush contrasted against what had and was continuing to happen to her added further poignancy. What struck me too was the feeling of utter aloneness, left to silently contend with the knowledge of time’s unstoppable force, a disbelieving horror over the fate that had been written for her.

JANUARY was originally published as Enero in 1958, and translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle and Maureen Shaughnessy (pub 2023). Though decades have passed, so much feels as true and urgent now, unfairly so, and in so many places, as it did in rural Argentina then. An impactful read with a narrative voice that comes freshly alive in its impotent anguish, one that infuriatingly still has reason to exist today.

Thank you @archipelagobooks @netgalley for the reading copy!

A powerful novella about a 16-year-old Argentinian girl who finds herself pregnant as a result of rape. She lives with her Catholic family on the Argentinian pampas and she knows that her news will not be accepted by them. We get inside her head as she struggles with the ramifications of what’s happened and tries to work out what she can do about it – including considering an abortion. Apparently the book opened up the conversation about abortion in Argentina when it was published in the 1950s. It’s delicately and carefully written, avoiding graphic language and description and is all the more powerful for that. The reader has to infer rather than being told, and I found this approach very effective. The age-old question of what to do about an unwanted pregnancy is as pertinent today as it was then, which gives the book a universal relevance, and I’m surprised it has taken this long for the book to be translated into English. But at last it has and it’s well worth reading. Recommended.

This powerful novella was written in 1956 and is set in rural Argentina. The issues of unwanted pregnancy, abortion, rape and more, in a conservative Catholic country. It’s easy to read this well written story in one go.

Upon its original publication it in 1958, Sara Gallardo’s controversial feminist novella made waves in Argentina. Set in a conservative community in the pampas, January is an unsparing account of sixteen-year-old Nefer who guards the secret of her pregnancy while cycling between fear, anger and misery.

I thought the English translation by Riddle and Shaughnessy was excellent. The way they expressed Nefer’s inner turmoil and feeling of claustrophobia as she outwardly goes about her normal day was propulsive, and I read January in one sitting. Further, I found myself gripped by the vivid descriptions of the stifling heat and stark setting. For all that the English translation comes seventy years later, Nefer’s private drama feels extremely contemporary.

Thank you to Archipelago and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!

An incredible novella, and hard to believe that it was written so long ago. Well written and dealing with so many heavy issues, it is easy to devour in one sitting and it is a great translation.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.