A Little Luck

From the author of Elena Knows, finalist for the 2022 International Booker Prize

20 years after a shocking accident, Mary Lohan returns to the Buenos Aires suburb she escaped in a fugue of guilt and isolation. She is not the same--not her name or voice, not even the color of her eyes. The neighborhood looks different too, but she's still the same woman and it's still the same place, and as the past erupts into view, they slowly collide.

A Little Luck is the story about the debilitating weight of lies, the messy line between bravery and cowardice, and the tragedies, big and small, that can ripple out from a single decisive event. In a place she had determined to forget forever, both anticipated encounters and unanticipated revelations show her, and us, that sometimes life is neither fate nor chance: perhaps it's nothing more than a little luck.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1960, Claudia Piñeiro is a best-selling author, known internationally for her novels that, while rooted in the crime genre, frequently address social issues. She has won numerous national and international prizes, including the Pepe Carvalho Prize, the LiBeraturpreis for Elena Knows and the prestigious Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize for Las grietas de Jara (A Crack in the Wall). Many of her novels have been adapted for the screen, including Elena Knows, Thursday Night Widows, and Time of the Flies . Piñeiro is the third most translated Argentinian author after Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar. She's also a playwright and scriptwriter (including for popular Netflix series The Kingdom ). Her novel Elena Knows was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize.

Frances Riddle has translated numerous Spanish-language authors including Isabel Allende, Claudia Piñeiro, Leila Guerriero, and Sara Gallardo. Her translation of Theatre of War by Andrea Jeftanovic was granted an English PEN Award in 2020. Her work has appeared in journals such as Granta, Electric Literature, and The White Review, among others. She holds a BA in Spanish Language Literature from Louisiana State University and an MA in Translation Studies from the University of Buenos Aires. In 2022, Frances' translation of Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. Originally from Houston, Texas she lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.