Cathedrals

A teenage girl was murdered. Thirty years later, her family is still living with the consequences.

Winner of the Dashiell Hammett Prize
“Piñeiro appears to have invented a unique genre: the family crime novel.” — La Nación

In a quiet middle-class neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, the body of a teenage girl is found burned and dismembered. Decades later, the crime still casts a shadow over the lives of those left behind.

Lía, the dead girl’s sister, has fled to Spain but cannot escape the rage and grief that continue to shape her life. Carmen clings to religion and certainty. Their widowed father remains haunted by the daughter he lost and the family that fractured in the aftermath.

As buried secrets begin to surface, Claudia Piñeiro unravels a devastating portrait of family, repression and silence. Dark, gripping and emotionally charged, Cathedrals is a razor-sharp exploration of religion, gender violence and the truths families refuse to face.

Translated by Frances Riddle