All style over plot; if you like the style or it interests you then you won’t mind that, but if the opposite is the case then it has little appeal. Personally the plotless novel or novella already starts off on the back foot with me, a couple of goals down before the ball is even kicked. It needs to be fairly special to mount a comeback, meaning I’m open to the possibility and I’ve seen it happen, but in my experience, most don’t make it.

The style here is something of an intense, disturbing, transgressive prose poetry. Personally speaking again, when one of the main if not the main selling points of a work is its “transgressiveness” (here that includes mother-son incest) it’s not likely to be of great appeal. Transgressiveness for its own sake, or with no apologies as a fan might rather describe it, to be fair, isn’t something that holds much literary interest for me.

Beyond that it’s a quick-cut deluge of scenes and stream of consciousness that come at the reader without pause, this novella being one long chapter. Some of the prose poetry lines I found very good, but they ultimately get buried in this chonk of text. Perhaps I like work that is more considered than breathless, as well. ( )

Not so Tender is the Night
Review of the Charco Press paperback (February 15, 2022) translated by Annie McDermott from the Spanish language original "Precoz" (Precocious) (2015)

¿Qué es escribir para vos?
Escribir no puede ser otra cosa que eso de irse al fondo del océano para volver con los ojos ensangrentados.

[What is writing for you?
Writing cannot be anything other than going to the bottom of the ocean only to return with bloody eyes.] - Question to and answer by Ariana Harwicz. Excerpt from an interview at Panama Revista, Feb. 16, 2016 [link below]

Tender is the English translation conclusion of Ariana Harwicz's "Trilogía de pasión mortal" (Deadly Passion Trilogy), following Die, My Love (orig. 2012/trans. 2017) and Feebleminded (orig. 2014/trans. 2019). The Charco Press synopsis also describes it as an "Involuntary Trilogy." All three books are centred around themes of motherhood, but in unconventional ways that go far afield from standard nurturing into sometimes crazed and desperate feelings of depression, aversion and obsession.

Tender delves into an obsessive mother and son narrative which makes temporal jump-cuts that will disorient and confuse at times, but which is still compelling and immersive in such a way that you can't stop reading it. It draws you into its maelstrom of escape and evasion even if you may not fully comprehend the reasons for all the actions. It is a tour-de-force of writing and in this excellent translation.


Poster for the theatrical adaptation (September 2021) of "Precoz" (Precocious) the original Spanish language novel edition of "Tender". Image sourced from Twitter.

I read Tender through a Charco Press 2022 Bundle subscription, from which it was the first selection. I enjoyed several Charco Press releases from 2018 to 2021 through the Borderless Book Club and the Republic of Consciousness Book of the Month and my own selections. The 2022 Bundle was a convenient option to discover more.

Other Reviews [All are in the Spanish language, turn on web translator]
A Dark Prayer, Review at Eterna Cadencia, December 28, 2015
Precocious by Ariana Harwicz, Review & Interview in Panama Revista, February 16, 2016
Precocious, a Terror Born of Desire, Review at La Tinta, June 2021.

Trivia and Links
Tender is scheduled for official release mid-February 2022. There is no online virtual release event yet scheduled, but watch for one to be announced at the Charco Press events page here. ( )