Such Small Hands

A dark uncanny jolt of literary perfection.

Her father died instantly, her mother in the hospital. She has learned to say this flatly and without emotion, the way she says her name (Marina), her doll's name (also Marina) and her age (seven). Her parents were killed in a car crash and now she lives in the orphanage with the other little girls. But Marina is not like the other little girls.

In the curious, hyperreal, feverishly serious world of childhood, Marina and the girls play games of desire and warfare. The daily rituals of playtime, lunchtime and bedtime are charged with a horror; horror is licked by the dark flames of love. When Marina introduces the girls to Marina the Doll, she sets in motion a chain of events from which there can be no release.

With shades of Daphne du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, Guillermo Del Toro and Mariana Enriquez, Such Small Hands is a beautifully controlled tour-de-force, a bedtime story to keep readers awake.

About the Author

Andres Barba is the author of twelve novels. He has worked as a teacher of Spanish to foreigners at Complutense University in Madrid and now gives writing workshops. He was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young Spanish Novelists. His writing has been translated into eight languages.

Lisa Dillman is a senior lecturer at Emory College. In 2016 she won the Best Translated Book Award for Signs Preceding the End of the World.