Tender is the Flesh

It all happened so quickly. First, animals became infected with the virus and their meat became poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, 'special meat' - human meat - is legal.

Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans - only no one calls them that. He works with numbers, consignments, processing. One day, he's given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later.

But she haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, and watchful gaze, seem to understand. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost - and what might still be saved.

'Horribly effective... This provocative novel expertly wields a double-edged cleaver... 'in the end, meat is meat, it doesn't matter where it's from'; it's a statement of both dystopic extremity and banal everyday fact' - Guardian

'A compelling dystopian novel' - Independent

'This is a hideous, bold and unforgettable vision of the future. Just make sure you've eaten before picking it up' - i-D magazine

'Told with a chilly aloofness that makes the horror of it all the more disturbing' - Financial Times

'A thrilling dystopia that everyone should read' - Dazed

'A skin crawling yet compelling read' - Refinery29

Agustina Bazterrica is an Argentinian novelist and short-story writer. She is a central figure in the Buenos Aires literary scene, co-curating the event series 'Siga al Conejo Blanco' and coordinating reading workshops. She has received several awards for her writing, most notably the prestigious Premio Clarin Novela for her second novel, Tender is the Flesh, which is being translated into 10 languages.

Everyone's eating human meat. Would you? The shocking, darkly gripping dystopian novel in which cannibalism is legal. It all happened so quickly. First, animals became infected with the virus and their meat became poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, 'special meat' - human meat - is legal. Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans - only no one calls them that. He works with numbers, consignments, processing. One day, he's given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later. But she haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, and watchful gaze, seem to understand. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost - and what might still be saved.

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