This short novel takes an Argentinian national myth of Martín Fierro and reinterprets it in a feminist, bisexual, non-monoganous, genderfuck-y, anti-colonialist manner that questions the very notion of a national myth - and it does all of that through beautiful prose and a gently optimistic narrative that doesn’t seem preachy or ahistoric. The Adventures of China Iron was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2020 and Gabriela Cabezón Cámara is considered to be one of the leading figures in contemporary Latin American literature for a reason - this is a stunning novel.

I read this book a year ago (it actually made it on the list of my favourite books I read in 2022!) and I’ll add a more thorough analysis once I reread it.