Meike's Reviews > Elena Knows

Now Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022
German: Elena weiß Bescheid (available since 2009)
The Argentinian journalist and star author lures her readers in with the deceit of a crime novel starring a Miss Marple-like elderly mother-turned-investigator, only to then discuss the personal and societal implications of chronic illness and women's issues - excellent move, Claudia Piñeiro (fun fact: Piñeiro is the third most translated Argentinian author, after Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar). The title-giving Elena - who, like all of us, is under the impression that she has figured all kinds of things out, thus amassing lots of false convictions - is very ill with Parkinson, when her daughter and caregiver Rita is found hanging in the bell tower of the church. Elena is convinced that Rita, a devout Catholic who feared lightning, would never have gone to the tower in the rain to commit the sin of suicide.

So Elena starts to investigate, and her severe illness gives the text its innovative form: Her body can only function from one tablet of medication to the next, and in between, she has trouble looking up, staying concentrated, moving. We, as readers, experience the same restrictions while accompanying her on her trip to Isabel, an enigmatic women Rita and Elena met almost 20 years ago on a faithful day (and only at the very end will we learn what happened and how it relates to Rita's death). In between the (for the sick woman) exhausting journey, flashbacks illustrate how Elena has already tried to alert the people around her to her suspicion that Rita was murdered, and how Elena and Rita have experienced living with Parkinson (the caregiver is also suffering due to the illness of the person they take care of, of course).

The whole plot plays out over one day, and while the text is rather short, the first 2/3 are very slow (which is also an aesthetic decision, as described above), but then the ending packs a real punch. Piñeiro tackles some very uncomfortable questions, especially for a religious society and a society that relies on women conforming and being caregivers to children and the elderly without questioning their roles or getting enough help (the latter being, well, pretty much all societies).

A great pick by the Booker judges, although I am still rooting for Fosse as the winner (btw: A New Name: Septology VI-VII also reflects the perspective of an elderly person with their body starting to fail them).

You can listen to my interview with Frank Wynne, jury president of the International Booker 2022, here.