Eartheater

by Dolores Reyes

Overview

Dolores Reyes’ Eartheater is an “outstanding” (New York Times) synthesis of mystery and magical realism that explores the dark tragedies of ordinary lives.

NAMED A MUST-READ AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS BY TIME, VULTURE, BOSTON GLOBE, COSMOPOLITAN, WIRED, AND MORE

Set in an unnamed slum in contemporary Argentina, this is the story of a young woman who finds herself drawn to eating the earth—a compulsion that gives her visions of broken and lost lives. With her first taste of dirt, she learns the horrifying truth of her mother’s death. Disturbed by what she witnesses, the woman keeps her visions to herself. But when Eartheater begins an unlikely relationship with a withdrawn police officer, word of her ability begins to spread, and soon desperate members of her community beg for her help, anxious to uncover the truth about their own loved ones.

Surreal and haunting, spare yet complex, Eartheater is a dark, emotionally resonant tale told from a feminist perspective that brilliantly explores the stories of those left behind—the women enduring the pain of uncertainty, whose lives have been shaped by violence and loss.

Translated from the Spanish by Julia Sanches

“Dolores Reyes’s writing is visceral and urgent. It’s also connected to a powerful tradition of fantasy and crime, and it reflects on violence against women with enormous lucidity.” —Mariana Enriquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire

“A raw and vital literary debut, Eartheater takes an unwavering and visceral look at systems of power through the perspective of a young woman caught in the crosshairs.” —Shelf Awareness

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062987747
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	134
Sales rank:	920,847
File size:	919 KB

About the Author

Dolores Reyes was born in Buenos Aires in 1978. She is a teacher, feminist, activist, and the mother of seven children. She studied classical literature at the University of Buenos Aires. Eartheater is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

08/10/2020

A high school dropout reluctantly uses her clairvoyant power to find missing women and children in Argentinian writer Reyes’s lurid debut. The unnamed narrator develops a habit of eating dirt in the wake of her mother’s violent death, earning her the name Eartheater and shame for her family, especially the aunt now raising her and her older brother, Walter. When a beloved teacher goes missing, the young teenage narrator eats the dirt from the school’s courtyard and draws an explicit picture of the teacher’s body outside of a nightclub, which gets her sent to the principal. After the teacher’s body is discovered where the narrator drew her, the aunt leaves the siblings to fend for themselves, and the narrator drops out of school while Walter supports them both by working as a mechanic. The narrator prefers to drink beer and play video games with Walter and his friends from their unnamed barrio, and occasionally accepts cash for her visions from family members of missing people. Reyes crafts an alluring, unsettling edge to the plot developments, including the narrator’s first sexual experiences and the city’s pervasive violence, by collapsing the narrator’s age and the passage of time, preserving aspects of her young girlhood and her angst-ridden teenage years as she grows older. Reyes’s coming-of-age portrait stands out for her unflinching look at a teen’s exploration of sex and death. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

One of the most outstanding Latin American short novels of the year.” — New York Times

“A powerful story whose narrator wields brutally honest observations on the intersections of class, poverty, and gender. Reyes’ debut is a strong addition to the growing body of Latin American crime fiction in the U.S. market. A stirring genre blend of fantasy and crime fiction that combines graceful prose and magic realism.”  — Booklist (starred review)

“Reyes succeeds in making the feisty Eartheater and her visions both persuasive and affecting.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“In a voice that is terse, blunt, and biting, the narrator reckons with the impact of her visions on her health and relationships, as she witnesses more and more the ways fear and violence shape the experiences of the women in her community. Compelling and visceral, Reyes’ debut combines mystery and coming-of-age to evoke the stories of the victims of femicide.”  — Kirkus Reviews

“A raw and vital literary debut, Eartheater takes an unwavering and visceral look at systems of power through the perspective of a young woman caught in the crosshairs.” — Shelf Awareness

"In Reyes' hands, this coming-of-age novel flowers into a meditation on death, and the earth all children will eat in the end." — New York Observer

“Dolores Reyes’s writing is visceral and urgent. It’s also connected to a powerful tradition of fantasy and crime, and it reflects on violence against women with enormous lucidity.” — Mariana Enriquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire

"With its own shining light and singular voice, Eartheater follows in the footsteps of such essential authors as Juan Rulfo and Sara Gallardo.” — Selva Almada, author of The Wind That Lays Waste

“Dolores Reyes’s harsh and sensitive lyricism explodes in your hands.” — Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, author of The Adventures of China Iron

From the Publisher

Dolores Reyes’s harsh and sensitive lyricism explodes in your hands.

Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

"With its own shining light and singular voice, Eartheater follows in the footsteps of such essential authors as Juan Rulfo and Sara Gallardo.

Selva Almada

A powerful story whose narrator wields brutally honest observations on the intersections of class, poverty, and gender. Reyes’ debut is a strong addition to the growing body of Latin American crime fiction in the U.S. market. A stirring genre blend of fantasy and crime fiction that combines graceful prose and magic realism.” 

Booklist (starred review)

"In Reyes' hands, this coming-of-age novel flowers into a meditation on death, and the earth all children will eat in the end."

New York Observer

Dolores Reyes’s writing is visceral and urgent. It’s also connected to a powerful tradition of fantasy and crime, and it reflects on violence against women with enormous lucidity.

Mariana Enriquez

One of the most outstanding Latin American short novels of the year.

New York Times

A raw and vital literary debut, Eartheater takes an unwavering and visceral look at systems of power through the perspective of a young woman caught in the crosshairs.

Shelf Awareness