Czas much

Tuya #2

by Claudia Piñeiro, Tomasz Pindel (Translator)

Kobiet oszukanych przez mężczyzn jest na pęczki, ale odrzuconych i przez matki, i przez córki już nie tak wiele.

Czas much to długo wyczekiwana powieść Claudii Piñeiro, w której powraca główna bohaterka znana z powieści Twoja. Autorka zabiera nas w emocjonującą podróż pełną skomplikowanych relacji, wewnętrznych demonów i nieprzewidywalnych wyborów. To historia o przyjaźni i zdradzie, a jednocześnie celny portret argentyńskiego społeczeństwa.

Inés wychodzi na wolność po piętnastu latach odsiadki za zabójstwo Charo, kochanki byłego męża. Jej życie całkowicie się zmieniło, tak samo jak społeczeństwo, do którego powraca. Przez półtorej dekady rozwinął się feminizm, pojawiło się prawo o równości małżeńskiej oraz inkluzywny język. Kobieta rozumie, że choć bywa to trudne, musi myśleć praktycznie i dostosować się do nowych realiów.

Wspólnie z towarzyszką z więzienia zakładają firmę: Inés zajmuje się dezynsekcją, a Rączka świadczy usługi detektywistyczne. Praca umożliwia im zmierzenie się ze skomplikowaną rzeczywistością i odnalezienie w niej miejsca dla siebie. Aż do czasu, gdy pewna klientka, pani Bonar, proponuje im niepokojącą transakcję. Oferta rodem z mrocznej przeszłości może narazić je na poważne konsekwencje, ale także – paradoksalnie – zmienić ich życie na lepsze.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Crime, Mystery Thriller

432 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2023

About the author

Claudia Piñeiro is an Argentine novelist and screenwriter, best known for her crime and mystery novels, most of which became best sellers in Argentina. She was born in Burzaco, Buenos Aires province.

Reviews

[El Librero de Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aquí voy. Aunque es indiscutible el talento de Claudia Piñeiro esta novela tiene sus pros y sus contras.
1: Para quienes estén por lanzarse a esta lectura ¡ALTO! primero lean Tuya. Esta novela retoma la historia y a los personajes 15 años después, así que sí, para que disfruten El tiempo de las moscas es necesario conocer la primera parte que, además, me parece mucho mejor.
2: La voz de Inés en Tuya, que me parece muy bien lograda, creo que en esta novela se pierde y aunque entiendo que transcurren varios años y pasa por situaciones difíciles, me quedé con las ganas del humor del personaje.
3: Creo que el discurso feminista entra con calzador en la historia, no voy a negar que tiene muy buenas reflexiones y referencias, sin embargo, la historia transmite el mensaje, no me parecen necesarios esos capítulos.
4: El tema de las moscas al principio me costó trabajo, pero conforme fui avanzando entendí el por qué, creo que la autora logra enlazarlo con la historia principal de manera muy hábil. Pueden resultar capítulos lentos, sí, dependerá de cada lector.
5: La Manca es, por mucho, el mejor personaje de esta historia.

[Natalia Luna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vaya por delante que me gusta mucho como escribe Claudia Piñeiro. "Catedrales" y "Tuya" (que se debe leer antes que El tiempo de las moscas) me engancharon a esa forma tan personal de escribir que tiene la autora.
Pero en este libro creo que no está reflejado. Una mezcla de ideas demasiado amplia y demasiado repetitiva ralentizan y lastran la lectura. La historia de Inés, años después de la primera novela, queda diluida por un montón de páginas dedicadas a distintos discursos de concienciación social. Con los que yo estoy de acuerdo pero que me sobran en este libro.

La obsesión de los pensamientos de Inés con las moscas ya es desesperante. Vamos en circulo leyendo casi un tratado sobre insectos. Me he aburrido. Me he saltado varias páginas...
En mi opinión podía haber sido una lectura tan apasionante como la de "Tuya" porque hay una historia intrigante en medio de todo el barullo de cosas.
Bien escrito, con muchos datos, pero poco apasionante.

[Daniel Shindler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ines Espery views her life as a series of rebirths.

“ She feels like she’s about to be reborn—again; she was born for the first time when her mother delivered her; the second when she killed Charo—Yours—and now she will be born for a third time as soon as they open the gate and she’s allowed to walk free.We’re born naked, so why take anything, she thought when they told her to pack her things, after she learned she was getting out. That’s what she thinks again now: we’re born naked.”

Ines is contemplating these thoughts as she exits prison after fifteen years of incarceration. Her musings hint at both her backstory and her emotional landscape.She became a convict because she murdered Charo, her husband’s lover. Now, having survived both birth and prison, Ines is ready to embark on the third phase of her life.She has partnered with Manca, another former convict, to establish a business that combines fumigations and investigations, heralded by the alliterative name FFF( fumigations, females, flies.) Ines handles the fumigations and Manca handles the investigations for their exclusively female clientele.Ines is bothered by a fly that seems to appear in her eye.

The company slogan reflects the women’s desire to root out decay from their pasts and explore paths towards empowerment. It is telling that Ines praises flies for their efficiency as detectives when they inhabit dead corpses.The fly that visits Ines’ eye is an emotional reminder of her quest to seek a role that defies the traditional female stereotypes.

When one of Ines’ clients makes an unusual request, the women are propelled on a journey of conscience, trust, trauma and identity. There is a central element of crime and mystery that confronts the women as they assume this task. Their choices and actions force them to reckon with the role of motherhood, abandonment and survival within a patriarchal system.

These concerns flow throughout the novel and are delivered in three distinct voices. Ines delivers her thoughts in the first person.Manca’s sections are narrated in the third person.These sections alternate and are intermittently punctuated by a group of omniscient, unseen female voices.The voices serve as a Greek chorus, recapping previous plot points and offering a cacophony of ideas and viewpoints about female relationships as they navigate the abuse and violence encountered in a masculine world. Each chapter begins with a header quote from Euripides’ “ Medea,” augmenting themes of pain and rebirth.


There are no prominent male characters in the novel.Pinero focuses on exploring how women survive trauma and fractured identity.The protagonists and the chorus create a buzzing discourse that attempts to unravel the mystery of self determination, safe havens and belonging. In a contemplative moment, Ines reflects on the nature of flies and notes that,

“ ..time passes more slowly for flies than it does for us…to a fly, life passes in slow motion…So she has more time…to think, to react, to respond, to not respond, to hide, to avoid aggression, to get it right. Four times faster, unbelievable.”

One wonders if, through these words, Pinero is hinting at an emotional roadmap enabling one to cope with the choices and mysteries of life.

[Soy Fabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al terminar de leer este último libro de Claudia Piñeiro, me puse de pie en el living de mi casa para aplaudir. Para aplaudir a esta genia de la pluma. Una vez más, su genialidad me dejó atónita.

Este libro es la continuación de “Tuya”. Inés sale en libertad, después de quince años presa por haber asesinado a Charo, la amante de su ex marido. Su vida ha cambiado, pero así también la sociedad: el avance del feminismo, las leyes de matrimonio igualitario y del aborto, el lenguaje inclusivo. Inés, una ama de casa tradicional y a quien la maternidad no le resultó algo feliz, entiende que debe ser práctica y adaptarse a la nueva realidad. Aunque le cueste.


Una novela que me tuvo en vilo y que me terminé en 24 horas. Una literatura maravillosa que la autora nos brinda siempre.

Súper recomendable. Van 5 ⭐️ rotundas.

[Liss VC · Rating 4 out of 5]

La historia tiene su punto de partida 15 años después de los acontecimientos narrados en “Tuya”, novela en la cual conocimos a Inés y su entorno.
Ahora, en ésta, nos encontramos con una Inés que se enfrenta a una nueva sociedad, en la cual el feminismo ha tomado su lugar, donde aparece el lenguaje inclusivo y los cambios de género. Inés entiende que debe ser práctica y adaptarse a la nueva realidad. Aunque le cueste y a veces no entienda ciertas cosas. Y en ésta nueva realidad, y en su nuevo trabajo, de repente se ve envuelta en una gran disyuntiva, y su decisión desencadena los hechos que dan pie a la trama.
Me ha gustado mucho que la autora cierre interrogantes que dejó abiertas en su novela anterior, aunque a mi particularmente, me gustó mucho más el ritmo y la trama de “Tuya”. En ésta nos encontramos un ritmo más lento, más pausado, Inés sigue elucubrando mucho, en eso no ha cambiado, incluso más que hace 15 años, y ahí es donde le sobran páginas a la novela, la autora se pierde mucho en la mente de Inés y en sus divagaciones, y esto le resta algo de ritmo a la novela.

[PameFer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claudia Piñeiro nunca, jamás defrauda. Me encantó conocer qué pasó con Inés después de Tuya. Nuevamente una novela adictiva. 💖

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Longlisted for the 2025 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize

Luckily I am not the same person I was before, that would mean I hadn't learned anything. And I did learn, I think I learned a lot. I have reinvented and renamed myself. Inés Experey is not a bad name, it reminds me of who I was and at the same time it banishes my old self (get out, Eresto Pereyra!) And her as well (get out, Charo).

Though Yours. Yours is another story.

'Time of the Flies' (2024), Francis Riddle's translation of Claudia Piñeiro's 'El tiempo de las moscas' (2022) is a direct sequel to Tuya (2005), literally 'Yours' although translated by Miranda France as 'All Yours' (2012). That isn't made clear in the novel's English language blurb, perhaps because the earlier book is from a different publisher, Bitter Lemon Press, who had published Piñeiro's work in English until Charco Press took over from Elena Knows - Bitter Lemon Press promoting the works more as crime fiction, whereas Charco "intends to relaunch Piñeiro in English as a writer of ethical weight and commitment".

And unfortunately reading this novel stand alone is a rather unsatisfactory experience. While Time of the Flies is a new and different story, there are a lot of references back to the previous novel, including things the reader knows but the characters don't.

Time of the Flies opens with Inés being discharged from prison after a 15 year sentence for the crimes she committed in 'All Yours'. The story then picks up a year later - Inés together with Marta, a close friend from her time inside, have set up a business together, FFF, standing for Fumigations Females Fly. Actually it is more two businesses under one brand - as Inés has retrained as a pest-controller, while Marta works as a private investigator, both specialising in female clients.

Although the one animal Inés refuses to eliminate are flies, which are instead her passion, one which started when she discovered a floater in her eye, which she mistook for a trapped fly, leading her to read books on flies from the prison library.

The novel's plot revolves around a wealthly client, Mrs Bonar, who hires Inés to fumigate her house, but then after a number of visits reveals her true intention. She wants Inés, who is licensed to obtain various products, to obtain for her a pesticide fatal to humans, so that Mrs Bonar can murder her husband's lover, just as Inés (whose backstory she reveals she knows) did 16 years earlier. And Inés needs the generous money Bonar offers to pay for an operation Marta urgently needs.

Marta decides she will use her PI skills to investigate (particularly as there is no obvious Mr Bonar) and a complication arises when she sees Inés estranged daughter Laura, who cut off all contact after her mother was jailed, visiting Mrs Bonar's house. And what the reader of All Yours knows, but not Inés and, unfortunately, not the reader of this book who hasn't read the earlier one, is that the 16 year old Lali was pregnant at the time 16 years ago when Inés committed her crime.

This generally is the type of crime fiction where the reader - at least the reader of both books - knows more than some of the characters, and Mrs Bonar's true intention is clearer to even those new to the novels than it is to Inés and Marta, so the story can drag a little as we wait for them to catch up.

What does redeem the novel in a literary sense are the sections on flies, particularly when it links to two authors in particular, Marguerite Duras and Augusto Monterroso:

And there it is, Glantz's article entitled 'The Fly and the Dinosaur' dedicated to the Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso. And also a photocopy of 'The Flies' from Monterroso's Perpetual Movement, along with his short story The Fly that Dreamed it Was an Eagle. Laura looks at the sentences she underlined in Glantz's text: 'Yes, I agree with Tito: there are only three possible themes: love, death, and flies.' (...) 'I'm convinced that literature could not exist if flies did not exist' (...) 'Yes, the fly is the most perfect archaeological vestige, the "last transmitter of our clumsy western culture".' She still likes what she underlined when she read it, in her last year of university, if she's not mistaken, and this surprises her because usually when she comes across notes she made in books she wonders why she did so. A person has the right to change as a reader, to change what they'd underline, she thinks. She continues reading, and even though she sometimes finds new phrases that she likes, she'd mark the same ones again. And she takes comfort in the fact that, at least when it comes to Margo Glantz, Monterroso, and flies, she hasn't changed; it's somehow reassuring on a night like this one. She puts the photocopies back into the book, closes it, and takes it to bed with her.

And the chapters which interrupt the story with a Greek chorus of commentary, one which directly quotes various feminist writers, such as Duras, Rebecca Solnit, Toni Morrison, Lina Meruane, Vivian Gornick, Natalia Ginsburg, Chimanadna Ngozi Adichie, Angela Davies and Paul B. Preciado. That Preciado is transgender but a feminist writer is important in relation to the novel's plot, with the Greek chorus debating but ultimately rejecting TERF views.

I suspect had I known to have read All Yours previously this would have been a 4 star read - and I'd strongly recommend readers start there (as do the top Spanish-language reviews on this site). But on my experience a mid 3 star.

[Anae · Rating 3 out of 5]

"¿Será un arte escribir? Tengo mis dudas. Porque escribir, escribe cualquiera: le dan al teclado, dale que va, un dia de algún modo publican ese texto, el libro da vueltas por ahí, le ruegan a algún librero que se lo tome en consignación, se sacan foto para Instagram, se lo regalan a una tía, hasta lo presentan en una feria de morondanga, pero del arte ni me acuerdo. La escritura, en ese sentido, es muy democrática: quien quiere escribir, escribe."

La manera de escribir de Claudia Piñeiro sí es un arte. Me encantan sus historias y sus reflexiones en voz alta, baja o a media voz. Y eso a pesar de que esta historia se me hizo demasiado breve, a pesar de que Tuya me gustó mucho más y a pesar de que pueda existir una tercera parte.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time of the Flies has it all. A slow burning mystery, a complicated mother daughter relationship, a developing friendship between women who are more used to not trusting anyone, a dilemma that might be an opportunity or it may be a trap.

The Collective Voice and Medea

Then there is a collective voice of feminist disharmony that enters the narrative every few chapters to opinionate on what just happened, if there is an issue that women might have an opinion on. It's never a consensus, it illustrates the difficulty of any collective voice that doesn't resonate together, and demonstrates the aspects being considered on a topic. And each chapter begins with a quote from Medea by Eurides.

Female Friendship and Fumigations

Inés, the mother of Laura ( a role she is trying now to deny) has been released from prison 15 years after killing her husband's lover. She has set up a pest fumigation and private investigation business with fellow friend and ex inmate Manca. FFF (fumigations, females and flies) a business run by women for women.

The two friends and business partners work separately but they consult each other when a case requires it, although Inés knows more about autopsies, fingerprints, and criminal profiles than Manca does about cockroaches.

On Flies

Inés sees a fly. In her eye. It comes and goes, it is a part of her. The doctor has checked it out and explained it away, but for her, it is significant. She understands the brain's suppression mechanism that will make it disappear. Flies ascend in the narrative, they have a champion in Inés and we will even come across numerous literary references to them, some that hold them more in esteem than others.
(...)
(...)
The novel has its central mystery that is slowly unravelled, while it explores the complexity of the mother daughter relationship, the effect of abandonment and absence and the promise that a new generation can bring to old wounds.
(...)
(...)
(...)
So, Those Ellipsis's

Though it was a slow read for me, it really got me in its grip and there was so much to consider beyond the mystery, like the collective voice, which makes the reader consider issues from different points of view and then there are the ellipsis's. They are usually present when there is dialogue, so they make the reader consider why they are there. Are parts of the dialogue unimportant? Are they an invitation to the reader to imagine what was said in between? Whatever the intention of the author, the effect is to awaken the reader to their presence and make you think about the why.

By the time I finished this, I absolutely loved it, for everything. For it's central storytelling, its reflective invitation, the literary references, the collective voice and its ability to keep me entertained and interested and intrigued.

[María Carpio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Estoy segura de que Claudia Piñeiro debe tener mejores novelas que esta. Es la primera vez que la leo, pero sé que tiene oficio y buenas críticas. El oficio se nota también en este libro, el problema que le hallo es que tiene mucho relleno que, al parecer, pretendía ser una suerte de experimentación narrativa, pero que finalmente no está tan bien lograda o pulida, y resulta en páginas puestas para engordar la novela. El tronco argumental es bastante sólido y con el suficiente interés como para que funcione perfectamente como una novela negra. Incluso aunque sea la secuela de un libro previo (Tuya), se lo puede leer independiente. Ahora bien, ese tronco argumental tan bien logrado se desluce por la incorporación de otros estilos narrativos que intercalan reflexiones feministas y disquisiciones técnicas y filosóficas al rededor de las moscas (que llega a ser un recurso repetitivo que se agota), además de constantes citas y referencias de autoras femeninas (esto sí lo disfruté, pero como piezas separadas, ya que se nota forzado el hacer calzar todo ello junto en la novela). También, el final resulta algo simplón y poco pulido, y completamente previsible, una vez que se develan ciertas intenciones de uno de los personajes, la señora Bonard, que contrata a la ex-convicta Inés Experey para que le realice una fumigación en su casa. Al salir de la cárcel por haber matado a la amante de su ex-marido, Inés se dedica ahora a la fumigación y tiene una socia de su empresa, la Manca, a quien conoció en la cárcel y que ahora es detective privada. A partir de allí se teje una historia de detectives y un crimen en potencia.
Tiene su punto de interés, pero es irregular. Creo que intentaré con alguno otro suyo.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fairly gushed about the other two books by Claudia Piñeiro published by Charco Press: Elena Knows and A Little Luck. So when I saw that Charco was offering another Piñeiro (this one) I pre-ordered and began reading the day it was dropped on my front porch.

This one is more noir-ish, although not a whodunit. (The author has won awards for her crime fiction). We are told right away that the protagonist, Inés, has been released from prison after serving 15 years for murdering her husband's lover. She's been out just a year and runs her own pest control business. A new client, who knows about Inés' past, asks Inés to get a certain poison for her so that she can kill her husband's lover. Inés agrees, but that's all I'll say.

Any able reader will know instantly that that's not what the new client is going to do with the poison. But what?

Well, I thought the answer was pretty obvious the first time we hear Timo was involved in a tragedy. If the author doesn't tell you what the tragedy is, then that will be reason for it all.

Still, this read well enough. I was never not interested, even with lengthy discourses on flies, moths, internet searches, and Whatsapp messaging. There were also chapters sprinkled in called Chorus, which were really a feminist view of things.

This was okay, but it just never matched the other Piñeiro books I read. And there was one annoyance. Inés' husband also did two years for manslaughter for the death of his lover. It was never explained how he was criminally responsible.

[Milly Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uy.

Es que...si tan sólo la autora hubiera apostado por otro final. Aunque no, no solo es eso.

O si yo hubiera leído Tuya (a diferencia de quiénes opinan que no hay que leerlo, yo diría que sí, no sé qué piense la autora pero si esta es una continuación, es una continuación, o no?). Creo que para conocer bien bien a Inés hay que "verla" hacer lo que solo nos "cuenta" que hizo en este libro.

O si tan solo no se fuera por las ramas tanto... Si es un libro donde hay suspenso, lo que queremos leer es el suspenso, yo no disfruté tanto ni al coro ni a las moscas (¿qué pueden tener de interesantes?). Claro, todo esto es sólo mi opinión.

Y sí, me mantuvo entre la emoción y el disfrute y me lo leí de volada, hasta que se disolvió la trama y pues no quedaba ya mucho más. Y esa duró poco. Y terminó, pues como terminó.

Claudia es de mis autoras favoritas porque ha escrito dos de mis favoritos libros de la vida, pero no todos sus libros me gustan ni me encantan.

Este me gusta y no me encanta.

[Rachel Louise Atkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book, this was absolutely incredible.

Claudia Piñeiro has been an author I love for ages but this has solidified her as one of my favourites. I was absolutely obsessed with this book and it’s perfect in every way.

Time of the Flies is about a woman named Ines who has been in prison for 16 years for killing her husband’s lover. Now back in society, she and her best friend run a pest control/private investigator company for women only. Then she gets a really weird request from one of her clients and the book spirals into an intense mystery which kept me reading well into the night.

The vibe of this book is very different to her other two. This is actually a sequel to the book called All Yours but you can 100% read this book as a standalone and still completely love it (which is what I did). It’s less of a literary fiction book and more toes the line of mystery/thriller and is a lot more plot heavy. But she sprinkles in so much wit and brilliant social commentary that it is just as enthralling, engaging and powerful as her previous two books with Charco.

I raced through this and it is definitely making my top ten of the year so far. An easy 5 stars from me.

[Karen·]

Of course I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced, twisty tale. It offers all the pleasures of noirish suspense: the tension, the flattering sensation that you may have worked out what is happening, you're a step ahead of the characters, only to be surprised by a turn that you hadn't quite encompassed, all of those elements are there, plus a little extra for those of us who snobbishly like to believe that we are really a bit above reading whodunnits. Which this isn't actually, it's more a case of is it going to be a dunnit at all, but no matter, you know what I mean.
Somehow, though, I was left with a bit of a nasty aftertaste. How can I get so close to Inés, get so wrapped up in her fate when she is in fact someone who, when faced with the fact that her husband had a lover decided that the best course of action was to shoot the woman?
In a plot that hinges on the relationship between mothers and daughters, there's no passing thought for the mother of that lover, is there? No.
There are intermittent chapters featuring a chorus, who debate questions of feminism. All very interesting, but I didn't feel it enlightened anything about this rather dubious central character (who also, by the way, was a really poor mother).
And I'm with Tony on this one, who mentioned in his review that it is never explained how Inés' husband was also implicated in the murder. Another annoyance.
I learned a lot about flies that I didn't know before.

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me encanta como escribre Claudia Piñeiro y cuando leí que era una continuación de Tuya me emocioné. La historia en sí está interesante y uno va poco a poco imaginando por donde van los tiros, pero me salieron sobrando las moscas. Toda esa parte de las moscas por muy muchos mensajes o alusiones que pudiera tener me resultó aburrida. La autora retrata muy bien la sociedad, nos presenta los temas de inclusión, el feminismo, la amistad, la pérdida, entre otros. Justo cuando me estaba gustando y se puso mejor la historia va y se acaba. LOL Lo mejor fue que lo leí en una lectura conjunta con unas amigas y de esa manera se pasa bien.

[Iris L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Híjole 😬 a mi me encanta Claudia, me fascinan sus historias pero en un dato personal nunca me han gustado las segundas partes 🫥 aquí creo que si no hubiera conocido previamente la historia de Inés en Tuya la verdad no hubiera terminado este libro.

Mucha obsesión con moscas y es que ahora Inés es fumigadora, muchos muchos puntos suspensivos en la narrativa, muchas vueltas al asunto, mucho relleno y me aburrí un poco, se lee rápido pero tarde en terminarlo porque sencillamente no me enganche del todo. El final pues no me gusto tanto.

[Lee Imagina Sueña · Rating 4 out of 5]

En este libro de El tiempo de las moscas, Claudia Piñeiro retoma la historia de Inés; el personaje principal de una de sus primeras novelas Tuya.

Me gusto más la historia de este personaje en Tuya, aunque en esta novela me encantan los capitulos intercalados que nos presenta la autora hablándonos de nosotras las mujeres y dejandonos puntos muy importantes para pensar.

La Manca es un gran personaje,que toma el protagonismo de la historia y el final es genial

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when you merge a spellbinding crime plot with a deep dive into feminism? You get something like Time of the Flies, by Claudia Pineiro. If you’ve read previous works by this highly gifted Argentinian author – Elena Knows or A Little Luck – you know you’re in for a riveting ride.

The plot looks at crime from two angles – crimes against women and crimes by women. The crime by women angle focuses on Ines, recently released from prison after murdering her husband’s lover. She and her BFF, Manca, launch a pest control and private investigation company called FFF (Females, Fumigation, and Flies) -- yes, a little bit of humor here. It’s going well until one of Ines’ clients asks her to commit a crime – obtaining a professional-grade poison only available to exterminators – in exchange for a great deal of money. Ines has the motivation to do it, because Manca, who has breast cancer, has become a victim of a corrupt healthcare system. But then it seems this client knows Ines’s daughter – the daughter she bore before she stopped defining herself as a mother.

And so we get to the crimes against women. One of them is society’s judgmental role of what a mother should be (think: Elena Ferrante’s The Lost Daughter). What if you are an unnatural mother? Should there even be such a thing (whatever you do, don’t ask JD Vance!) Identity has always been a key theme of Claudia Pineiro’s works, and here it is as well: what does it mean to be a woman who does not fit into the typical mold?

Interspersed with the narrative is a Greek chorus (ending with “let’s vote on it”) that includes arguments taken from activist women such as Natalia Ginsburg, Angela Davies, Marguerite Duras, and Paul B. Preciado (a transgender feminist writer whose inclusion is vital, given the plot). Readers will debate whether the inclusion of these sections adds to or distracts from the propulsive thrust of the narrative. I sense some deux a machina, but I could easily also argue that it add context.
The last half of the novel, in particular, is hard to put down. I was disoriented about the mother-daughter dynamic at the start, and it was intriguing to discover, from another reviewer, that Time of the Flies is a direct sequel to a 2005 book entitled Tuya, which fleshes out the subplot of Ines’s daughter.

One last insight: what does the title mean? We get an education about flies in this book, but it is particularly enlightening that flies, with their higher metabolic rates, experience time four times more slowly than humans. What if we could slow down time and have more time to reflect on our actions?

It’s a lot to cover, but Claudia Pineiro does so beautifully. I already can’t wait to read her next novel.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mi si me gustó leer la historia de los personajes que conocí en Tuya. Te da un buen cierre, la autora tiene una manera de escribir que te atrapa, y si lo recomiendo!

[Ina Groovie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creo que la autora cae en el pecado de la estética por la estética; genera diálogos sobre el feminismo (algo que se lee forzoso); intenta generar un lazo con las moscas que no tiene ningún sentido orgánico. Pero si fuera una serie o película, la estaría recomendando.

Me sobraron páginas, lugares comunes y florituras.

[Cynthia_entrelineas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Todo lo que escribe me gusta! Aca somos fan!

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

“—Soy la que fui, Manca, aunque haya cambiado. Lo que fui está dentro de mí, la diferencia es que voy a poner eso a mi favor.”

Después de 15 años de estar en presión por asesinato Inés ha cambiado, pero más ha cambiado el mundo y ella tiene que aprender y adaptarse.
Me ha parecido un libro muy completo donde uno encuentra suspenso, buenos personajes, crítica social, temas actuales y un coro muy interesante que comenta lo que está sucediendo, lo discuten y debaten.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry Daniel - when I read your review, I thought this had a very interesting premise but it pans out into something extremely formulaic. I just feel as if Ms Pineiro has a perceived audience in mind - her 20 somethings in her university class? I'm surprised really because her Thursday Night Widows published 2009 of the three I've read seems to me her best - it feels like a genuine thriller with some added social comment. With Elena Knows she has clearly moved into Lecture Mode - and this one is even worse. Her two main figures - women friends who share an office and a work logo come across as a Laurel and Hardy duo - without the comedy. All of it is formulaic - the best word to describe all the characters.

I can add, however that I liked the Chorus sections - not for the tedious questions asked by the multiple voices - but for the quotes, embedded within the numerous voices. Each quote has a little number - and I found those numbers lead to feminist texts - I'm familiar with several of these authors:

Rebecca Solnit, "Men Explain Things to Me",
Toni Morrison, "The Source of Self-Regard"

and I am delighted to be directed towards feminist authors - new to me:
Sara Ahmed "Living a Feminist Life"
Marta Lamas "Acoso" - written in Spanish.

Esther Perel "The State of Affairs" - Perel is someone I listen to on YouTube
Rita Segato "La guerra contra las mujeres" - new to me.
Francesca Izzo "Maternidad y libertad" - new to me
Florenzia Angilletta "Zona de promesas - new to me
Lina Meruane "Contra los hijos" - new to me.

I notice - it's all the Spanish authors - that I'm not familiar with - but their writings cover topics familiar to me within the feminist academic field. I have the feeling that Pineiro is striving to prove her truth - as if she's had a lot of resistance to her ideas. I mean the book reads like a Flag Ship for feminism.

More writers embedded into Pinero's text:
Marguerite Duras "Writing"
Vivian Gornick "Unfinished Business"
Natalia Ginzburg "A Place to Live" in 'A Place to Live and Other Selected Essays'

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie "Dear Ijeaweale, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions"
Angela Davis "The Approaching Obsolescence of Housework: A Working -Class Perspective"
Maria Mies "Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labour"

Judith Butler, from the "Pandemia, democracia feminismo" Lecture Series, University of Chile
La CISterna Transfemmenista" Pikara Magazine
Rosa Montero "Discutamos, mejoremos y avancemos"

Paul B Preciado "Countersexual Manfiesto."

Even from these divisions you can see that she is steadily working through a series of topics - the earlier ones more general statements on women and gender equality - then we move to working class women - and yes her protagonists Ines, - normal, no degree housewife and Manca, working-class. The devil in the book is Susana Bonar - loads of money, business capitalist, egoist, etc.

It's clear from looking at that list - that Pinerio's book is a vehicle by which she hopes to get these texts to the public, especially to women who cannot afford a university education, but they may be able to afford her "detective-fiction" book. Nothing to complain about here - a sterling motive.

If you are familiar with feminist ideology, however, you can thank me for saving you from reading this stilted text - and just take on board the fabulous writings above. It's clear isn't it that Pineiro is following Marxist principles and wishes to descend from her academic ivory tower and bring the word to the masses. Still I prefer to read Ginzburg and Duras; Butler and Morrison - they've long since brought their stories to the public without the overt stiffness of the academic mind.

I mean she even attempts to invert Medea - I guessed Laura's son would be the target because I've read the classic, but then Pineiro has to re-write the Medea myth - the bad woman who killed her children as an act of revenge on her husband - Jason. I can only think Pineiro has missed the point of Euripides' drama - there is no such woman as Medea these days - and the circumstances surrounding Medea's decision are unique and specific to her times - She was a woman banished from her homeland, instructed to leave her children and make do with her husband taking another. Medea the highest queen - humiliated beyond all measure - falls to status of homeless, vagabond. THERE IS NO COMPARATIVE CIRCUMSTANCE TODAY. This is a misappropriation of the Medea story.

We should leave ideology out of motherhood. What's wrong with ideology, ideas, what we think? They're wrong to people who don't think like us. We don't all think the same. But let's put it to a vote and come to an agreement. That's the way forward. Who are we? That's the question. An assembly. A chorus. Flies.

Let's put it to a vote.

That's an extract from the last Chorus Section - and it is a statement I particularly like and understand: everything needs to be discussed, and everyone has the right to a voice - but the suggestion of a vote means that consensus is required to make decisions. Of course.

And then she muddles the water with "FLIES" - Ines carefully provides us with the information on the different types of flies - the flesh eaters and the harmless ones. But even the flesh eaters have their place in the world - otherwise we would be surrounded by piles of dead bodies. That's not an exact quote but a summation from my memory of what Ines says. Is Pineiro suggesting that civilisation is an endless fight against a natural order - or is our imposition of order, what we decide is civilized, simply a perspective of limited knowledge? The flesh eaters provide a valuable service.

And so - style horrible. But in true academic form there are some amazing jump-off points for discussion - which pushes any reader to think and debate and ask questions and think some more. And that can only be good. We must question our reality and how we structure our world, our lives and most of all we have to question who gets to decide - and even then - how much influence do these decision-makers actually have? Are we not all resistant in many ways also? Ines and Manca are survivors and learners - they move onwards, and forwards. So yes, I can admire the ideology of Pineiro's characters, just not their actual dialogues or substances.

I keep pushing my stars upwards the more I think about all the ideas this book contains - maybe a four? I love the section where Ines explains that flies live 4x slower than us because they have snapshots of reality going 4x faster than our snapshots - from eye to the brain. Sorry but I'm not going to re-write all Pineiro's wonderful science, but she is pushing that boundary of What do we know - There is so much that we don't yet know - and I absolutely love that. I'm sitting between 3 and 4 - 3.5 stars? Sorry Pineiro - Style is equal to Content. Your content is fabulous - your style needs major improvement. And I'm not really her target audience either.

[Takoneando entre libros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Voy a ser sincera...no soy nada objetiva con esta autora, si lo fuera, mi valoración sería inferior a las tres estrellas que le voy a poner.
¿Qué me ha gustado?
-Como siempre, me ha gustado su manera de escribir.
-Me ha gustado la trama que, aunque hay un punto en el que es previsible, no resta emoción en ningún momento.
¿Qué no me ha gustado?
-La obsesión y repetición con el tema de las moscas, que sí, que entiendo su mensaje pero ha sido agotador y cansino.
- El tema del feminismo con el que se ha pasado mil pueblos, aunque yo comparta casi todo de lo que se habla. Si leo sus libros es por su manera de narrar y sus tramas y no para que la mitad del libro me esté sacando de la historia con alegatos feministas durante capítulos enteros (que me he saltado).
En fin, que la trama me ha gustado muchísimo pero no el derive de la autora con el relleno de páginas; qué hartazgo de moscas y feminismo.

[Erly Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creo que el estilo de escribir de Claudia Piñeiro es único.
La forma en que cambia las voces, sus monólogos, sus diálogos, sus reflexiones.
Creo que es un estilo totalmente propio.
Ines sale de prisión después de quince años.
La Ines que nos hizo sufrir en su evolución de esposa abnegada, o esa ella creía que era, a asesina a sangre fría.
Muchos cabos quedaron sueltos.
¿Que le pasó a Laura, a su hija, durante ese parto de chica adolescente?
¿Cómo quedaron todos los implicados de la trama de Tuya?
Bueno, llega el turno de “El tiempo de las moscas”.
Un título que quizás no tiene sentido. Quizás “Tuya Dos” nos conectaba mejor.
Pero créanme, que la escritora le da sentido desde el inicio hasta el final.
Excelente thriller.
Hay tantos temas en esta novela, que va más allá de una sinopsis sencilla.
Hay que leerla y sugiero tener a “Tuya” bien repasada.

[mali · Rating 4 out of 5]

this just solidified my suspicions that claudia piñeiro is one of my favorite authors

[Rachel Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely a disappointment. This dragged on with preamble much too long, the ending felt rushed and tonally opposed to the rest of the story, the characters weren’t quite developed enough to feel authentic, and there were repetitive conversations and situations throughout. I could go on.

I am intrigued by the author’s focus on strange obsessions, motherhood, feminism, and friendship, though. I’m eager to read Elena Knows, which I’ve just learned has a better reputation than this effort.

[Marika_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

W „Czasie much” kontynuowana jest historia bohaterki książki „Twoja”, której co prawda nie czytałam, ale nie czułam się przez to zdezorientowana. Natomiast czytałam jej „Katedry” i gatunkowo to bardzo podobne pozycje, czyli kryminało-thriller obyczajowy z mocno zaznaczonym wątkiem społecznym. We wcześniej czytanej był to fanatyzm religijny, a tu feminizm i queer’owość.
Ines jakiś czas temu wyszła z więzienia po odsiadce za zamordowanie kochanki swojego męża. Razem z byłą współwięzniarką prowadzą biznes zajmujący się jednocześnie dezynsekcją i usługami detektywistycznymi. Podczas zlecenia u jednej z klientek Ines dostaje niemoralną propozycję, a podjęta przez nią decyzja uruchamia lawinę.
Oprócz motywu z dreszczykiem, mamy też podjęcie tematów zmian w społeczeństwie, które zauważa bohaterka odcięta przez ostatnie lata od świata. A dodatkowo wybrzmiewają one w ciekawych przerywnikach fabularnych prowadzonych w liczbie mnogiej i komentujących decyzje i zachowanie postaci niczym chór w greckiej tragedii. Nowy etap w feminizmie, wszechobecna poprawność polityczna, inkluzywny język, prawo kobiet do aborcji, czyli zbiór ważnych (i nośnych) tematów.
I jestem rozdarta bo masa elementów bardzo mi się w niej podobała, ale jednocześnie topornie sklejały mi się one w całość, zgrzytało mi wielokrotnie. Niby czytałam z zainteresowaniem i narracja trzymała mnie w napięciu, ale niektóre fragmenty w moim odczuciu były zbyt „na siłę” i boomerskie w stylu autora udającego młodzieżowy język. Nie potrafie jej więc jednoznacznie ocenić i chętnie poznałabym wrażenia innych, jeśli czytaliście to dajcie znać, a jak nie to… przeczytajcie i też dajcie znać :D
PS. mam wrażenie, że podobnie jak książka, tak i moja recenzja koślawo złożona w całość, wybaczcie :)

[Lupita Ortega · Rating 4 out of 5]

La escritora retoma en esta entrega a Inés, protagonista de Tuya. Podemos ver la evolución que ha tenido el personaje tras pasar quince años en prisión. Este cambio en la forma de ser de Inés se puede apreciar sin dificultades, ya que no encontramos su misma actitud parlanchina y ni siquiera el mismo humor negro que leíamos a cada párrafo en la primera entrega.

A su vez, Piñeiro nos dio la posibilidad de presenciar los cambios sociales e ideológicos que ha traído el feminismo en todos esos años que Inés estuvo presa. Ahora debe reinsertarse al mundo y para eso necesita una fuerte capacidad de adaptación que la mantenga alejada de problemas.

Hay otras voces que se intercalan en los capítulos, las cuales pertenecen a un tipo de coro (que nos recuerda a los griegos por su referencia a Medea de Eurípides), donde podemos percibir un debate ideológico sobre el feminismo y la maternidad. Por ratos pueden parecernos lentos, ya que queremos continuar con la historia de Inés sin interrupciones.

También encontraremos la voz de Inés hablándonos sobre las moscas, sobre todo tipo de moscas, lo cual, aparentemente, puede ser algo que no cabe en la historia; sin embargo, tiene la finalidad de comparar el comportamiento humano y llevarnos a un análisis sobre el tipo de personas con las que la protagonista se ha encontrado en su vida, incluso la llevan a hacer una introspección, a reflexionar sobre el asesinato que cometió, si volvería o no a hacerlo, si estuvo bien o mal, etc.

Piñeiro tiene una escritura genuina, agradable y que sabe atrapar. A lo largo del libro tropezamos con frases poderosas, de profundo análisis, sobre todo en el tema de la maternidad. Hay muchas referencias literarias como Vivian Gornick, Natalia Ginzburg, Marguerite Duras, etc., que enriquecen la obra.

[Silvia Tobón · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustó bastante! ✨ En definitiva el cierre está muy bien hecho, los personajes muestran una madurez notable, en el camilo de la historia se nota que aprendieron de sus decisiones y lo vivido, me gustó bastante el toque que Claudia le da como simbolismo a las moscas! Y cada detalle en las conversaciones!