A woman tries to understand why her world is being torn apart by a strange plague. With an algae bloom poisoning the once pristine air coming from the sea, life in the city has become inhospitable.
A secret corporation makes the only food the townspeople can afford to buy … a gross pink paste of unknown origin. Between the deadly windstorms, the woman remains stubborn, determined to tend to her remaining relationships: her ex-husband who she still longs for, her difficult mother, the boy she nannies.
As conditions outside worsen, her refusal to leave is steadfast. She’s committed to remain in place, even if staying means being left behind.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Uruguayan author and translator Fernanda Trías is a writer English language horror readers will soon be very familiar with. The author of La Azotea (The Rooftop) and La ciudad invencible (The Invincible City), Trías’ short fiction has been collected in No Soñarás Flores and has appeared in numerous publications worldwide. With her US debut, Trías presents a horrifying vision of a plausible future and the emotional ramifications of a woman desperate to hold on to those she loves. The Guardian says: “Powerful and beautifully written, this is a disturbing read, depicting a terrifyingly convincing near-future scenario. The reader shares the achingly sad narrator’s feelings as care-giver, daughter and ex-lover.”. Mariana Enríguez (Our Share of Night) says: “Pink Slime is a dystopia all too near to us, in which human connections and sadness over the end matter more than any explanation of the fog and disease that shroud everything. Trías’s writing, precise and poetic, turns this beautiful novel into a toxic dream, into a meditation on ruins, bodies, and solitude.”, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic, Silver Nitrate) calls Pink Slime “An intimate, melancholic look at an ecologically ravaged future.”
Releasing from Scribner 2 July 2024, Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías (translated by Heather Cleary) is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA