Claudia Piñeiro is one of Argentina’s most successful authors. She’s also a pro-choice activist, having lent her voice to the successful effort to legalize abortion in Argentina. Elena Knows is Piñeiro’s effort to portray, in uncompromising terms, what the responsibility of caregiving entails. The debate around abortion typically revolves around political and religious values—what is life? whose body is it?—and not the complex and heart-wrenching psychology of motherhood. That’s a mistake. As portentous as they seem, questions about the distinction between life and death, or God’s will and human will, are voluntary pursuits for our species. Facing up to heartbreak and shame, fear and self-loathing, on the other hand, are not. This little life is about relationships—not only (or even primarily) the relationships that we choose voluntarily, but also those that are thrust upon us, or those that we reject at great cost. The core strength of Elena Knows is also a weakness: Piñeiro’s insistence on empathy-by-any-means-necessary is sometimes overwhelming, and the analogy between motherhood and daughterhood a bit forced. But the book overall is brave and admirable. If we ever reach a consensus on abortion, the emotions granted center stage by Elena Knows will be the reason why. 8
Piñeiro, Claudia. Elena Knows. Charco Press, 2021 [2007]. Reviewed June 8, 2025.
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