Empty Houses

A literary sensation upon its original Spanish-language publication, Brenda Navarro’s provocative debut novel explores the tumultuous aftermath of a child’s abduction.

Daniel vanishes three months, two days, and eight hours after his third birthday. In the wake of his absence, his mother’s life begins to unravel. But a new feeling creeps in as well: ambivalence. Did she ever want him in the first place?

In a working-class neighborhood on the other side of Mexico City, another woman desperately safeguards the child she stole. With her longing to be a mother finally realized, she finds her life violently altered by its reality—and unable to escape the horrific circumstances she hoped a child might fix. From the “eviscerating and propulsive” (Miriam Toews) voice of Brenda Navarro, Empty Houses is a kaleidoscopic inquiry into contemporary Mexico and a shocking investigation of motherhood, loneliness, and the decisions that make our lives.

“One of the best kept secrets of Mexican literature.”—Fernanda Melchor, author of Hurricane Season

“Unforgettable.”—El País