A review by jesshindes
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read Our Share of Night on the suggestion of my brother Sam (he of the numerous progeny) and as with many of the books he prefers it was immensely long and also South American. Mariana Enriquez is Argentinean and this is a translation from the Spanish (shout out to translator Megan McDowell). It's set across a period of time from the 60s to the 90s, mostly but not exclusively in Argentina, with different narrative styles and point of view characters across its 720 pages. As this implies it's quite a sprawling novel - I think it would have been possible to write a tighter version of this, although I can see the arguments for and against - and it's pretty graphic and nasty so be advised of that when making your own reading decisions! But I thought it was powerful, clever, and original so if you can stomach the length and the gruesomeness then I do recommend it.
Like a lot of the writers I've been interested in lately, Enriquez is playing with the horror genre: in this case, quite gory, genre-heavy gothic horror (she cites Stephen King as an inspiration and you can definitely see that in parts of this book) used to explore the real-life horrors of the Argentinian military dictatorship. The central premise of the story centres on a demon-worshipping cult whose wealthy and socially influential leaders carry out horrible crimes and murders to satiate their mysterious god, in the hope of benefiting from his favour and his wisdom. Every now and again, mediums are born (typically to poor families), identified, appropriated, and worked until they burn out and die. The book is focused on one of these mediums, Juan, who wants to protect his gifted younger son Gaspar from being exploited in the same way.
I thought it was interesting that Enriquez doesn't use her story to replace the real life history - it's not an analogy in that way - but has its events taking place around and alongside historical events. Her cult leaders are closely ingratiated with military leaders, benefit from that patronage, and use the disappearances visited on the politically inconvenient as cover for their own murders. Enriquez shows how wealth and corruption are drawn to one another - and by comparison, demonstrates that the horrors which really did take place were just as violent and terrible as anything schlock horror could imagine. A short section focused on the uncovering of a mass grave really drives that home - as does mention of a real-life story from Colombia which I found absolutely chilling!! I always love it when authors do smart things with genre and I think what Enriquez does here is really convincing, so if you don't mind lots of body parts and violence then grit your teeth and give it a go?
Like a lot of the writers I've been interested in lately, Enriquez is playing with the horror genre: in this case, quite gory, genre-heavy gothic horror (she cites Stephen King as an inspiration and you can definitely see that in parts of this book) used to explore the real-life horrors of the Argentinian military dictatorship. The central premise of the story centres on a demon-worshipping cult whose wealthy and socially influential leaders carry out horrible crimes and murders to satiate their mysterious god, in the hope of benefiting from his favour and his wisdom. Every now and again, mediums are born (typically to poor families), identified, appropriated, and worked until they burn out and die. The book is focused on one of these mediums, Juan, who wants to protect his gifted younger son Gaspar from being exploited in the same way.
I thought it was interesting that Enriquez doesn't use her story to replace the real life history - it's not an analogy in that way - but has its events taking place around and alongside historical events. Her cult leaders are closely ingratiated with military leaders, benefit from that patronage, and use the disappearances visited on the politically inconvenient as cover for their own murders. Enriquez shows how wealth and corruption are drawn to one another - and by comparison, demonstrates that the horrors which really did take place were just as violent and terrible as anything schlock horror could imagine. A short section focused on the uncovering of a mass grave really drives that home - as does mention of a real-life story from Colombia which I found absolutely chilling!! I always love it when authors do smart things with genre and I think what Enriquez does here is really convincing, so if you don't mind lots of body parts and violence then grit your teeth and give it a go?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Police brutality