Cousins

Argentine writer Venturini makes her posthumous English-language debut with a sordid and morbidly funny tale of sexual violence, first published in 2007 when she was 85. Yuna is a gifted art student in La Plata, Argentina, who supports her disabled younger sister, Betina, and their single mother. Under the auspices of her professor José, Yuna becomes a rising star. But despite her reputation and success as an artist, she struggles to protect Betina and their cousins Carina and Petra from sexual predators, including a neighbor and another character whose misdeeds are a surprise. Yuna narrates her family’s tragedies in spiraling and sometimes spectacular run-on sentences, professing that punctuation tires her out. Through keen and quirky observations, she finds humor in the darkness, “The end of everything is dessert. I once thought when looking at a dead gentleman in a coffin enveloped by the big embroidered napkin, or whatever it is, that he looked like a dessert being served up to someone.” Cousin Petra, a sex worker, teaches Yuna that while the men in their orbit commit rape as naturally as breathing, there is always room for revenge while the wronged yet live. Short, sharp, and startling, this will surely have readers eager to see more of Venturini’s special derangement. Agent: Sandra Pareja, Massie & McQuilkin Literary. (May)