Land of Smoke

‘One of my favourite books by one of my favourite Argentinian authors’ Samanta Schweblin, author of Fever Dream

‘Diamantine, intense and violent’ Times Literary Supplement

Dazzling and hallucinatory, the stories in this collection recall the masters of magical realism – but with Sara Gallardo’s distinctive slant. An old man wakes up one morning to find that his beloved garden is floating away, with him on board. A young woman moves to Buenos Aires, bringing with her a replacement head. A meek German missionary leaves Paraguay for the Pampas, unprepared for what he will discover there.

Resplendent with otherworldly imagery and beguiling prose, Land of Smoke presents a uniquely compelling voice in Latin American literature.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.

Translated by Jessica Sequeira

Sara Gallardo was a celebrated and prize-winning Argentinian writer, born in Buenos Aires in 1931. Her first book was published in 1958, and by the time she died in 1988, she had published novels, short stories, children's books, and essays. Written after the death of her second husband, Land of Smoke is the first of her books to be translated into English.