Tag: crime

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro (tr. Frances Riddle)

yellow book cover with woman's head on it, held against red background

a nutshell: over the course of a single day, an elderly Argentinian woman’s gruelling (and gripping) pursuit of answers about her daughter’s death leads to a revelation she never sought

a line: “Are you your brain, which keeps sending out orders that won’t be followed? Or are you the thought itself, something that can’t be seen or touched beyond that furrowed organ guarded inside the cranium like a trove?”

an image: the depiction of Elena’s deaf body – owing to late-stage Parkinson’s disease – surrounded by deaf ears was one that stuck with me, conjuring the somewhat overwhelming and oppressive notion of feeling ignored both internally and externally

a thought: yes this book delves into what it means to have control over our bodies, but it also goes deeper – powerfully exploring forces of control over our minds and the disasters that can ensue from thinking we Know when in fact we merely Believe

a fact: at the end of 2020, Argentina’s Congress legalised abortion (catalysed by the mighty ‘green wave’ women’s movement), marking an historic step forward in a region where termination laws are among the world’s most restrictive

want to read Elena Knows? visit here

Running Commentary by Daphne Caruana Galizia

a nutshell: the Maltese woman writer I include in this project could be none other than Daphne Caruana Galizia, whose commitment to exposing injustice through her writing eventuated in the 2017 murder that sent shock waves across the world

a line: “It’s true that life is unfair and that much of it can’t be helped, but where I can do anything to avoid unfairness or to set it straight, then I will”

an image: I took the photo above at a vigil for Daphne in April 2018, which was one of countless global events that have kept her memory alive over the past 30 months (often with moving contributions from her sons, two of whom I had the privilege of meeting on occasion through my human rights work in London)

a thought: while reading through Daphne’s online notebook to prepare my blog post, I came across this article in which she notes that the real reason – which she had uncovered nearly a year earlier – for a US trip by the PM was at last being acknowledged as the truth, even though previously she had been badmouthed as a purveyor of fake news; I was struck by Daphne’s observation that in journalism, as in many areas in life, “you sometimes find the back-up you need a little too late” and touched by her readers’ comments at the time that they always had full faith in her

a fact: one of Daphne’s sons, Paul, has followed in her footsteps as a journalist and speaks about his mother’s murder for Tortoise’s podcast – I highly recommend a listen

want to read Running Commentary? visit here