Ema the Captive

Distinguished Argentinian author Aira, a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize 2015, here offers what he calls a "'simplified' gothic novel," inspired by the books he used to translate for money. But there's nothing simple about this grandly written take on the captivity narrative. It opens in 19th-century Argentina with a group of soldiers making their way to a frontier fort with crammed-together, barely fed captives in tow. One soldier explains to a startled Frenchman with the convoy that these white women are mere tokens of exchange on the frontier, taken away from home for the smallest misdemeanors. Among the captives is young Ema, with her baby, and when she arrives at the fort she's given to a drunken officer named Paz. Ema is, however, tougher than she looks and trades around men herself, eventually establishing a bird-breeding enterprise that allows her to thrive.