Author(s): Agustina Bazterrica

Short Stories | Translated fiction | Argentina

On hearing her neighbour's body plummet on to her patio, a woman's comfortable life seems to split open. A cab driver's perfectly manicured nails may be concealing grisly secrets. A woman whose partner has left her begins to act out an increasingly deranged set of instructions.In these tense, macabre stories, acclaimed author Agustina Bazterrica strikes to the dark heart of our desires, fears and fantasies. Shocking, brutal, yet glinting with sharp humour, Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird is a breathtaking, unforgettable dive into human monstrousness.

Review:
'Like Enriquez, Bazterrica writes fetishistic gore with a bewitching allure, creating... an overwhelming sense of dread and a fear of losing one's senses' - Big Issue
'In 19 Claws, Bazterrica resumes the study of the macabre that characterised Tender Is the Flesh. This time, however, the brutality of the female experience is cut through with a dark wit and a heavy dose of the fantastic' - Guardian
'Gothic and brilliantly grim, these uneasy tales from the author of Tender Is The Flesh are as shadowy as night even in the bright glare of sunshine, as Bazterrica's darkly macabre imagination works like talon and beak, capable of tearing apart everyday situations and transforming them into something horribly chilling' - Daily Mail
'This book will leave you shocked into contemplating the darker sides of human nature' - Sci Fi Now
'A compelling and unsettling work that will leave readers questioning the boundaries between love, desire, and obsession' - Glamour

Praise for Tender is the Flesh
'A hideous, bold, unforgettable vision of the future'' - i-D
'A thrilling dystopia that everyone should read' - Dazed
'Sitting comfortably? Not after even the tiniest nibble of this gut-churning, brilliantly realised novel'-Daily Mail
'What a compelling, terrible beauty this novel is. My heart was breaking even as my skin was crawling' - Lisa McInerney, author of The Glorious Heresies

Author Biography: Agustina Bazterrica is an Argentine novelist and short-story writer. She is a central figure in the Buenos Aires literary scene, working as a cultural organiser and workshop curator. She has received several awards for her writing, most notably the prestigious Premio Clarin Novela for her second novel, Tender is the Flesh, which has been translated into over 20 languages and is also available from Pushkin Press.