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Verónica Rosenthal #2
Las extranjeras
Dos jóvenes extranjeras, Petra y Frida, son asesinadas al término de una fiesta en una casa de la alta sociedad tucumana, en Yacanto del Valle. Sus cuerpos aparecen tirados en el campo con signos de violencia y ataque sexual. La periodista Verónica Rosenthal nunca pensó que su aventura por el Noroeste argentino terminaría con sus amigas muertas y, aunque no confía en la policía ni en la justicia locales, está decidida a encontrar a los culpables. Gracias a su talento periodístico y a la inesperada ayuda de personas entrañables, Verónica se adentra en un peligroso juego de responsabilidades del que ella quizá también forme parte. Y en medio de tanta muerte, el amor y el deseo regresan al cuerpo de Verónica después de un período oscuro de su vida.
Las extranjeras, el nuevo libro de Sergio Olguín, es un policial de ritmo alucinante, pero también una historia romántica cargada de erotismo y la crónica de costumbres de un pueblo donde reina la impunidad y donde el asesinato de mujeres forma parte de su vida cotidiana.
Las extranjeras, el nuevo libro de Sergio Olguín, es un policial de ritmo alucinante, pero también una historia romántica cargada de erotismo y la crónica de costumbres de un pueblo donde reina la impunidad y donde el asesinato de mujeres forma parte de su vida cotidiana.
440 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2014
43 people are currently reading
415 people want to read
About the author
Sergio S. Olguín
37 books93 followersSergio Olguín nació en Buenos Aires en 1967 y estudió Letras en la universidad de esa ciudad. Trabaja como periodista desde 1984. Fundó la revista V de Vian, y fue cofundador y el primer director de la revista de cine El Amante. Ha colaborado en los diarios Página/12, La Nación y El País (Montevideo). Es jefe de redacción de la revista Lamujerdemivida y responsable de cultura del diario Crítica de la Argentina. Editó, entre otras, las antologías Los mejores cuentos argentinos (1999), La selección argentina (2000), Cross a la mandíbula (2000)y Escritos con sangre (2003). En 1998 publicó el libro de cuentos Las griegas (Vian Ediciones) y en 2002 su primera novela, Lanús, reeditada en España en 2008 (Andanzas 647). Le siguieron Filo (2003, Tusquets Editores Argentina) y las narraciones juveniles El equipo de los sueños (2004) y Springfield (2007), traducidas al alemán, francés e italiano. Oscura monótona sangre mereció el V Premio Tusquets Editores de Novela, según el jurado, por la magnífica resolución de una trama de obsesión y doble moral, de pasión y conflicto social, en la que se ve envuelto el protagonista, un hombre dispuesto a traspasar todos los límites por una relación inconfesable.
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September 11, 2020
Newflash! Read all about it! Some great Argentinian crime fiction is dripping from the pen of Sergio Olguin. "Foreign Girls" is the second book in Olguin's Veronica Rosenthal series, set in Buenos Aires, or rather, in this case, set in nearby areas in the Argentinian countryside. The book is expertly translated so much so that you would assume it were originally written in English. It wasn't.
Much of the storyline is actually set forth in the first few pages as Veronica writes a set of letters to her friend, setting out her adventures in the countryside where she took a few days to vacation solo away from the hubub of the big city, the assassination attempts, the work of the journalist. In the letters, she tells how she met a pair of European women, Frida and Petra, and on a lark, joined together in their adventure, staying in country estates, soaking in the South American sun, drinking bottle after bottle, and sensually exploring each other. In the letters, she tells of her guilt of leaving her two companions whom she had grown close to at a party when she left the rich high society party with a paramour. The next morning Veronica set out on her own, composing an email to each of her companions a day later. And all their daydreams in the hot sunshine and in the mists of starry nights disappeared when Veronica found out that her friends had been brutally raped and murdered and left to rot in the sun.
The rest of the book takes us to the beginning and slowly through their time together and the aftermath. Veronica, of course, never leaves the scene of the crime and slowly works out what happened and who did it and why. And it will be something that is of such significance to shock a country that has seen it all.
This South American novel is terrific. It juxtaposes violence and sensuality and innocence and cunning planning of the corrupt rich and the elite whose will can never be questioned.
Much of the storyline is actually set forth in the first few pages as Veronica writes a set of letters to her friend, setting out her adventures in the countryside where she took a few days to vacation solo away from the hubub of the big city, the assassination attempts, the work of the journalist. In the letters, she tells how she met a pair of European women, Frida and Petra, and on a lark, joined together in their adventure, staying in country estates, soaking in the South American sun, drinking bottle after bottle, and sensually exploring each other. In the letters, she tells of her guilt of leaving her two companions whom she had grown close to at a party when she left the rich high society party with a paramour. The next morning Veronica set out on her own, composing an email to each of her companions a day later. And all their daydreams in the hot sunshine and in the mists of starry nights disappeared when Veronica found out that her friends had been brutally raped and murdered and left to rot in the sun.
The rest of the book takes us to the beginning and slowly through their time together and the aftermath. Veronica, of course, never leaves the scene of the crime and slowly works out what happened and who did it and why. And it will be something that is of such significance to shock a country that has seen it all.
This South American novel is terrific. It juxtaposes violence and sensuality and innocence and cunning planning of the corrupt rich and the elite whose will can never be questioned.
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November 9, 2025
The north of Argentina serves as the setting for The Foreign Girls
She's back!
Foreign Girls is the second novel featuring Verónica Rosenthal.
Before I opened the book, I had to ask myself: Would Foreign Girls be as exciting and engrossing as the Argentine author's first novel in the series, The Fragility of Bodies? Now, having finished reading, I know the answer—yes!
What an enthralling tale with narrative momentum that builds and builds and builds. I usually take my time, but I found this literary thriller so absorbing, I finished its 400 pages in three days.
While traveling through Northern Argentina on vacation from her job as an investigative journalist, Verónica writes two emails to her boss, editor Paula Locatti, detailing her experience befriending two European travelers, Frida from Norway and Petra from Italy. Verónica feels a special bond with these two lovely young women. The trio spends several glorious days together at her cousin's plush mountain home and then on the road, hopping from town to town. But Verónica’s third email to Paula is short and haunting, which begins: “The girls are dead. Petra and Frida. They killed them, raped them, treated them like animals. It was after the party. I'm to blame for all of it, everything that happened to them. If I hadn’t left them there, they’d be alive.”
The three emails comprise the novel's prologue. The first chapter circles back to Verónica’s solo journey, her meeting Frida and Petra, and Verónica developing a sexual, loving relationship with Frida as the trio tours the rustic Argentine terrain together. Since there are so many twists, turns, and zigzags, I’ll jump straight to highlighting several characters.
SCANDINAVAIN BLONDE
Verónica in a tender moment: “She moved her lips, felt Frida's mouth, the warm breath, the perfumed skin. Verónica opened her eyes. She wasn't going to let this be a dream, like a wave that carried her along without her doing anything. She moved slightly aware and took Frida's face between her hands. Only now did she see her friend's eyes were grey, or perhaps a muted green. Nordic eyes. Eyes like that had loved Vikings and Valkyries, and now they were looking at her.”
Frida wasn’t just a beautiful woman capable of deep intimacy; she was also a truly compassionate soul. As a teenager, she supported Bosnian immigrants, and years later, she helped build schools in Senegal. Knowing Frida’s kindness and exceptional character only deepens Verónica’s determination to track down her killers and ensure they pay for their cruel and brutal crime.
SOUTHERN EUROPEAN GRACE
“At some point in the evening, Petra picked up the guitar and sang some of her own compositions. Her music was like her character: ironic, funny, sometimes dramatic or overblown.”
Every time Verónica thinks of Petra's music, her artistry, and creativity, the image of sensitive Petra being raped, tortured, and murdered by a group of despicable thugs floods her mind. Her unflinching resolve to hunt down those callous brutes only grows stronger.
FEDERICO
Those readers familiar with The Fragility of Bodies will know Federico is the shinning young legal star in the law firm headed by Verónica's father. Federico has had his own intense past relationship with Verónica and decides to travel north to protect the woman he holds dear. Federico brings along a Blaser R8, a German hunting rifle he learned to use under the direction of his father, a seasoned hunter. Now, could a gentlemanly lawyer use his hunting rifle to actually shoot someone? If they were planning to harm Verónica, you bet he could.
MECHI
Verónica's investigation leads her to a sixteen-year-old girl living on the edge of town with her grandmother. The girl's name is Mechi and she has lots to tell Verónica once she overcomes her initial shyness. One of the more charming parts of the novel: Mechi becomes so impressed by Verónica that she decides to follow the advice she's given by the confident journalist from Buenos Aires, things like going to night school, work in a shop in town rather than remain a housekeeper, not having children until she reaches thirty or thirty-five. Mechi even takes up smoking cigarettes, lighting and puffing and holding her head just like Verónica. And what she relates to Verónica, events going back a number of years, propels Verónica's investigation in a dark, dangerous direction.
Similar to The Frailty of Bodies, Sergio Olguín's The Foreign Girls delves into the grim social and economic way of life the majority of men, women, and children are forced to accept as simply how it is. This time out in rural Northern Argentina. And the roots of this suffocating, deadly reality go deep, very deep. At one juncture Verónica observes, “The landowners, the wealthy political leaders, the upper class señores who claim to be so horrified these days by corruption, they're all the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of murderers who made their fortunes by killing indigenous people, workers and activists.”
The Foreign Girls is a stunner worth any reader's time.
Argentine author Sergio Olguín, born 1967
January 11, 2015
El regreso de la súper chica del policial negro
Reseña de María Florencia Alcaraz para Cosecha Roja:
http://cosecharoja.org/el-regreso-de-...
No hay un cuerpo, son dos. Y son mujeres: golpeadas, cortadas y desnudas en el monte de un pueblo tucumano. Detrás de ellos, tras la pista que dejaron quienes marcaron esos cadáveres, hay otra fémina: una treintañera con jean ajustado y remera Dkny color pastel. ¿Quién es esa chica? La misma que en “La fragilidad de los cuerpos” (Tusquets) desarmó una mafia de apostadores en el conurbano y en ese camino escribió una investigación periodística. La redactora de la revista Nuestro Tiempo que fuma todo el tiempo y toma whisky a diario. Una “chonga” que tiene sexo con quien quiere, como la heteronorma indica que deben hacer los personajes del policial negro clásico. Pero ella es una chica, masculinizada desde la mirada patriarcal, una forma más de ser mujer para una perspectiva de género amplia. Verónica Rosenthal es la protagonista excluyente de “Las extranjeras” (Suma de letras), la nueva novela del escritor y periodista Sergio Olguín.
Un doble femicidio es el esqueleto de la historia que la tiene a Verónica como parte e investigadora. En esta oportunidad, ella se termina de poner el traje de Emma Zunz de super-chica con el que había empezado a coquetear en su primera aventura. Lejos del pulso de lo urbano y el latido marginal del conurbano, escenarios habituales del autor, Verónica se toma unas vacaciones en el noroeste argentino donde conoce a Petra y Frida, dos turistas europeas. Ellas son las extranjeras que aparecen muertas al final de la introducción del libro. Un título que a Olguín se le puso primero en la fila de los pensamientos un domingo en una panadería de su barrio. Los cuerpos de las extranjeras, la culpa y la venganza se transforman en la pulsión de Verónica y del texto que avanza hacia una trama oscura e irresistible a la vez.
El hipervínculo con el crimen de las turistas francesas en Salta en 2011 es inevitable. La historia fue un empujón para que Olguín creara una ficción que tiene como marco el universo de Yacanto del Valle, un pueblito que el escritor ubica en Tucumán. Es la postal de un territorio atravesado por una sociedad católica y machista, que silencia la corrupción y la violencia de la familia judicial y los hijos del poder. Un lugar donde la disputa por la dominación absoluta de los cuerpos de las mujeres puede presionar hasta la muerte. El crimen de Frida y Petra es también la historia del doble asesinato de la dársena en Santiago del Estero, de Paulina Lebbos en Tucumán y de Marita Verón, un cuerpo que ni siquiera aparece.
El relato avanza con vértigo cinematográfico. Una trama compleja narrada en un lenguaje sencillo. La combinación entre el género negro y la novela romántica hace de “Las extranjeras” una historia perfecta para un público heterogéneo que sólo excluye a un lector pacato y aburrido. El detalle es la marca de un texto. No es un relato erótico, pero el acento en la descripción también está puesto en las escenas de sexo. El escritor describe la casa del primo Severo con la misma precisión que detalla cómo Frida desnuda a Verónica.
¿Puede leerse sin haber visitado las páginas de la primera novela donde Verónica es protagonista? Sí. El juego macabro que le dio la tapa de la revista Nuestro Tiempo, la muerte de su amante Lucio, la trama de los sicarios que la periodista heroína atropelló aparecen evanescentes en este nuevo relato. ¿Hay que leer los dos libros? Sí. Los textos se complementan. Hay muecas de Verónica que sólo se entienden viéndola amando a Lucio o peleando con su pretendido Romeo, el abogado del estudio de su padre, Federico.
Al igual que en “La fragilidad…”, Olguín pensó para el libro una banda sonora que se transforma en un pasaje directo al pueblito ficcional del norte, pero también a la intimidad de Verónica. La selección de canciones es deliciosa: Atahualpa Yupanqui convive con Iggy Pop. ¿Es el playlist que lleva Petra? No lo sabemos. Pero podría serlo. El escritor lo democratizó para que el lector pueda acompañar la lectura con música: http://grooveshark.com/#!/playlist/La...
En un momento en el que las entrevistas se pactan por DM y las fuentes contestan por WhastApp, la super-chica que creó Olguín, además de ser una mujer independiente, es una periodista de la vieja escuela. Quizás en esa combinación de lo clásico y lo moderno está el secreto de la empatía que genera en el lector. La forma de encarar su trabajo es un decálogo exacto para cualquier estudiante de esta profesión: obsesiva, con capacidad de escucha y con un paraguas ético enorme.
Verónica desanda esta historia de violencia y poder con la mirada de un chacal y el gesto inocente. En algunos tramos se vuelve insoportable y su cualidad de superchica se torna inverosímil. Una inverosimilitud a la que el lector le pide más y el autor logra resolver. Es difícil soltar el libro, para Olguín también parece ser difícil soltar a Verónica Rosenthal. Ya anunció que habrá más aventuras de esta mujer maravilla criolla.
Etiquetas: doble femicidio, Las extranjeras, policial negro, Sergio Olguín
Reseña de María Florencia Alcaraz para Cosecha Roja:
http://cosecharoja.org/el-regreso-de-...
No hay un cuerpo, son dos. Y son mujeres: golpeadas, cortadas y desnudas en el monte de un pueblo tucumano. Detrás de ellos, tras la pista que dejaron quienes marcaron esos cadáveres, hay otra fémina: una treintañera con jean ajustado y remera Dkny color pastel. ¿Quién es esa chica? La misma que en “La fragilidad de los cuerpos” (Tusquets) desarmó una mafia de apostadores en el conurbano y en ese camino escribió una investigación periodística. La redactora de la revista Nuestro Tiempo que fuma todo el tiempo y toma whisky a diario. Una “chonga” que tiene sexo con quien quiere, como la heteronorma indica que deben hacer los personajes del policial negro clásico. Pero ella es una chica, masculinizada desde la mirada patriarcal, una forma más de ser mujer para una perspectiva de género amplia. Verónica Rosenthal es la protagonista excluyente de “Las extranjeras” (Suma de letras), la nueva novela del escritor y periodista Sergio Olguín.
Un doble femicidio es el esqueleto de la historia que la tiene a Verónica como parte e investigadora. En esta oportunidad, ella se termina de poner el traje de Emma Zunz de super-chica con el que había empezado a coquetear en su primera aventura. Lejos del pulso de lo urbano y el latido marginal del conurbano, escenarios habituales del autor, Verónica se toma unas vacaciones en el noroeste argentino donde conoce a Petra y Frida, dos turistas europeas. Ellas son las extranjeras que aparecen muertas al final de la introducción del libro. Un título que a Olguín se le puso primero en la fila de los pensamientos un domingo en una panadería de su barrio. Los cuerpos de las extranjeras, la culpa y la venganza se transforman en la pulsión de Verónica y del texto que avanza hacia una trama oscura e irresistible a la vez.
El hipervínculo con el crimen de las turistas francesas en Salta en 2011 es inevitable. La historia fue un empujón para que Olguín creara una ficción que tiene como marco el universo de Yacanto del Valle, un pueblito que el escritor ubica en Tucumán. Es la postal de un territorio atravesado por una sociedad católica y machista, que silencia la corrupción y la violencia de la familia judicial y los hijos del poder. Un lugar donde la disputa por la dominación absoluta de los cuerpos de las mujeres puede presionar hasta la muerte. El crimen de Frida y Petra es también la historia del doble asesinato de la dársena en Santiago del Estero, de Paulina Lebbos en Tucumán y de Marita Verón, un cuerpo que ni siquiera aparece.
El relato avanza con vértigo cinematográfico. Una trama compleja narrada en un lenguaje sencillo. La combinación entre el género negro y la novela romántica hace de “Las extranjeras” una historia perfecta para un público heterogéneo que sólo excluye a un lector pacato y aburrido. El detalle es la marca de un texto. No es un relato erótico, pero el acento en la descripción también está puesto en las escenas de sexo. El escritor describe la casa del primo Severo con la misma precisión que detalla cómo Frida desnuda a Verónica.
¿Puede leerse sin haber visitado las páginas de la primera novela donde Verónica es protagonista? Sí. El juego macabro que le dio la tapa de la revista Nuestro Tiempo, la muerte de su amante Lucio, la trama de los sicarios que la periodista heroína atropelló aparecen evanescentes en este nuevo relato. ¿Hay que leer los dos libros? Sí. Los textos se complementan. Hay muecas de Verónica que sólo se entienden viéndola amando a Lucio o peleando con su pretendido Romeo, el abogado del estudio de su padre, Federico.
Al igual que en “La fragilidad…”, Olguín pensó para el libro una banda sonora que se transforma en un pasaje directo al pueblito ficcional del norte, pero también a la intimidad de Verónica. La selección de canciones es deliciosa: Atahualpa Yupanqui convive con Iggy Pop. ¿Es el playlist que lleva Petra? No lo sabemos. Pero podría serlo. El escritor lo democratizó para que el lector pueda acompañar la lectura con música: http://grooveshark.com/#!/playlist/La...
En un momento en el que las entrevistas se pactan por DM y las fuentes contestan por WhastApp, la super-chica que creó Olguín, además de ser una mujer independiente, es una periodista de la vieja escuela. Quizás en esa combinación de lo clásico y lo moderno está el secreto de la empatía que genera en el lector. La forma de encarar su trabajo es un decálogo exacto para cualquier estudiante de esta profesión: obsesiva, con capacidad de escucha y con un paraguas ético enorme.
Verónica desanda esta historia de violencia y poder con la mirada de un chacal y el gesto inocente. En algunos tramos se vuelve insoportable y su cualidad de superchica se torna inverosímil. Una inverosimilitud a la que el lector le pide más y el autor logra resolver. Es difícil soltar el libro, para Olguín también parece ser difícil soltar a Verónica Rosenthal. Ya anunció que habrá más aventuras de esta mujer maravilla criolla.
Etiquetas: doble femicidio, Las extranjeras, policial negro, Sergio Olguín
June 4, 2021
A pretty average story about a female journalist with a very rich father who runs a law firm. The Journalist meets two travelling female backpackers. They have some fun but the two are found murdered and raped. It's a book where I was in a who-cares mode for most of it and was glad when the ending came.
May 3, 2014
Esta continuación de "La fragilidad de los cuerpos" la supera con creces.
Encontramos nuevamente a la periodista Verónica Rosenthal involucrada en la investigación del doble crimen de las extranjeras del título con quienes se había involucrado afectivamente.
Esta continuación presenta entonces una serie de personajes mucho más asentados, mejor presentados, más acabados a partir del esbozo que se había hecho de ellos en "La fragilidad..." y esto es algo para celebrar en un mercado argentino que conoce pocas sagas. ¿Por qué es algo para celebrar? porque la serialidad es una condición básica para el sustento de todo género popular y en el caso del policial argentino se ha visto poco en los últimos años: los referentes más importantes no lo han aplicado.
Una trama ajustada y llena de idas y vueltas, que desnuda la corrupción política, social y moral de las clases acomodadas de la oligarquía provincial, conflictos intrajudiciales y protagonistas que no aparecen para nada impolutos, que son capaces de matar, ocultar o desviar el cauce de una investigación sólo porque sus intereses económicos/afectivos se lo indican. Todas estas características típicas del policial negro, casi ausentes de buena parte de la tradición más clásica de la literatura policial argentina, le dan a la novela un piso de sustento especial para quienes buscan una novela de género negro.
No falta tampoco el erotismo en "Las extranjeras" con unos personajes que disfrutan de su sexualidad libremente lo que le da a la narración un tono de realismo no forzado.
En conclusión, una excelente continuación a "La fragilidad de los cuerpos" (aunque, como buena novela en serie, no precisa del lector haberla leído para poder disfrutarla) que profundiza en una trama muchísimo más ajustada y diversificada, sin excesos, precisa y disfrutable.
Encontramos nuevamente a la periodista Verónica Rosenthal involucrada en la investigación del doble crimen de las extranjeras del título con quienes se había involucrado afectivamente.
Esta continuación presenta entonces una serie de personajes mucho más asentados, mejor presentados, más acabados a partir del esbozo que se había hecho de ellos en "La fragilidad..." y esto es algo para celebrar en un mercado argentino que conoce pocas sagas. ¿Por qué es algo para celebrar? porque la serialidad es una condición básica para el sustento de todo género popular y en el caso del policial argentino se ha visto poco en los últimos años: los referentes más importantes no lo han aplicado.
Una trama ajustada y llena de idas y vueltas, que desnuda la corrupción política, social y moral de las clases acomodadas de la oligarquía provincial, conflictos intrajudiciales y protagonistas que no aparecen para nada impolutos, que son capaces de matar, ocultar o desviar el cauce de una investigación sólo porque sus intereses económicos/afectivos se lo indican. Todas estas características típicas del policial negro, casi ausentes de buena parte de la tradición más clásica de la literatura policial argentina, le dan a la novela un piso de sustento especial para quienes buscan una novela de género negro.
No falta tampoco el erotismo en "Las extranjeras" con unos personajes que disfrutan de su sexualidad libremente lo que le da a la narración un tono de realismo no forzado.
En conclusión, una excelente continuación a "La fragilidad de los cuerpos" (aunque, como buena novela en serie, no precisa del lector haberla leído para poder disfrutarla) que profundiza en una trama muchísimo más ajustada y diversificada, sin excesos, precisa y disfrutable.
March 8, 2022
en mi carácter de tucumana ilustre le daría una mano a Olguín en la edición de algunos detalles de la tucumanidad. un Gringo Aráoz jugaría en Tucumán Rugby, ni en pedo en Uni, y se dice “San Javier”, no “Cerro San Javier”. si le decís “Cerro” agregas EL antes y le decís EL CERRO SAN JAVIER pero en líneas generales están bien investigados el contexto y la idiosincrasia de los chetos y sus mañas.
hay partes que se van de mambo como lo que pasa entre Verónica y Ramiro al final del libro y ella me parece insoportable pero esta saga es adictiva y quiero seguir con los dos que me faltan.
no sé si tiene una prosa genial y las historias se parecen mucho a la vida real con un poco de ficción pero es muy adictivo y cuando arranco con uno vivo pendiente de tener tiempo libre para seguir leyendo. mi voto es positivo.
hay partes que se van de mambo como lo que pasa entre Verónica y Ramiro al final del libro y ella me parece insoportable pero esta saga es adictiva y quiero seguir con los dos que me faltan.
no sé si tiene una prosa genial y las historias se parecen mucho a la vida real con un poco de ficción pero es muy adictivo y cuando arranco con uno vivo pendiente de tener tiempo libre para seguir leyendo. mi voto es positivo.
March 4, 2021
Having described Sergio Olguín’s previous book The Fragility of Bodies as “intensely and sublimely brilliant”, I was more than keen to read the next in series, The Foreign Girls, featuring maverick journalist Verónica Rosenthal…
Ostensibly the book begins with Rosenthal getting drawn into the murder of two young women she has befriended on vacation, but the story begins to widen out by focussing on a series of murders of women that have occurred over a substantial time period. As the ramifications of these murders begin to close in on Rosenthal she also finds herself in physical danger from a deranged hitman, bent on revenge, as a consequence of the investigation in the previous book.
What I really like about Rosenthal is her mix of fallibility and emotional strength, despite the very assured and tough persona she seems to present to the world. She is never completely immune to the emotional sensibilities of the stories she investigates, but it is the strength of these empathetic impulses that drives her into dangerous assignations and foolhardy behaviour, with little consideration for her own welfare. Interestingly despite how much she rails against the overbearing influence of her successful lawyer father, she exhibits the same characteristics as him, making her obstinate and headstrong flailing against those who would seek to protect her, most notably her father’s employee Frederico with whom she has an on/off sexual relationship. Speaking of sex, and as the blurb mentions, she has an active and gender crossing approach to her more carnal desires, that again defines her propensity for trouble. It is precisely these more dangerous and impulsive aspects of her character that add to her charm, and even though I did experience some confusion to the structure of the book, which I’ll come to, her strengths and foibles of character was enough to keep me engaged and reading.
The structure of the book is quite strange, containing spoilers and forewarning of what is about to happen, so there is a potted synopsis of events, which are then filled out at greater length immediately afterwards. Not having read a book structured like this before, I did find it a little disconcerting at first, but grew used to it, as the wider unfolding of events that you had prescient knowledge of did add further clues and elements of impending danger to Verónica’s search for answers into the murders of her two travelling companions, and other women who had suffered the same fate. Although it did make the plot a little stilted at times as the same ground was trodden to a certain degree, it felt like an interesting experiment in the narrative form, and served to make this a different kind of thriller, and by extension, a unique kind of reading experience.
I enjoyed the way that Olguín pulled Verónica out of her natural stomping ground of the big city Buenos Aires to the more provincial towns that she travels through on her vacation, recuperating from the violent events of the previous book. There is a real sense of place and atmosphere throughout, particularly as readers would on the whole be less familiar with Argentina itself outside of its capital. There is a real colour and vitality that Olguín brings to these small towns and its inhabitants that really draw the reader in, outside of the main plot that slowly reveals a network of corruption and abuse over several years. Bolstered by the magnetism and gung-ho actions of his central protagonist, and an assured translation by Miranda France, the slight strangeness of the structure recedes into the background, and the book raises some important observations on the suppression of, and violence towards women. I’m curious to see where Olguín takes his heroine next, and would recommend both The Foreign Girls and the previous book, The Fragility of Bodies with their very real sense of the verve and energy of Argentina, and the darkness that lurks beneath.
Ostensibly the book begins with Rosenthal getting drawn into the murder of two young women she has befriended on vacation, but the story begins to widen out by focussing on a series of murders of women that have occurred over a substantial time period. As the ramifications of these murders begin to close in on Rosenthal she also finds herself in physical danger from a deranged hitman, bent on revenge, as a consequence of the investigation in the previous book.
What I really like about Rosenthal is her mix of fallibility and emotional strength, despite the very assured and tough persona she seems to present to the world. She is never completely immune to the emotional sensibilities of the stories she investigates, but it is the strength of these empathetic impulses that drives her into dangerous assignations and foolhardy behaviour, with little consideration for her own welfare. Interestingly despite how much she rails against the overbearing influence of her successful lawyer father, she exhibits the same characteristics as him, making her obstinate and headstrong flailing against those who would seek to protect her, most notably her father’s employee Frederico with whom she has an on/off sexual relationship. Speaking of sex, and as the blurb mentions, she has an active and gender crossing approach to her more carnal desires, that again defines her propensity for trouble. It is precisely these more dangerous and impulsive aspects of her character that add to her charm, and even though I did experience some confusion to the structure of the book, which I’ll come to, her strengths and foibles of character was enough to keep me engaged and reading.
The structure of the book is quite strange, containing spoilers and forewarning of what is about to happen, so there is a potted synopsis of events, which are then filled out at greater length immediately afterwards. Not having read a book structured like this before, I did find it a little disconcerting at first, but grew used to it, as the wider unfolding of events that you had prescient knowledge of did add further clues and elements of impending danger to Verónica’s search for answers into the murders of her two travelling companions, and other women who had suffered the same fate. Although it did make the plot a little stilted at times as the same ground was trodden to a certain degree, it felt like an interesting experiment in the narrative form, and served to make this a different kind of thriller, and by extension, a unique kind of reading experience.
I enjoyed the way that Olguín pulled Verónica out of her natural stomping ground of the big city Buenos Aires to the more provincial towns that she travels through on her vacation, recuperating from the violent events of the previous book. There is a real sense of place and atmosphere throughout, particularly as readers would on the whole be less familiar with Argentina itself outside of its capital. There is a real colour and vitality that Olguín brings to these small towns and its inhabitants that really draw the reader in, outside of the main plot that slowly reveals a network of corruption and abuse over several years. Bolstered by the magnetism and gung-ho actions of his central protagonist, and an assured translation by Miranda France, the slight strangeness of the structure recedes into the background, and the book raises some important observations on the suppression of, and violence towards women. I’m curious to see where Olguín takes his heroine next, and would recommend both The Foreign Girls and the previous book, The Fragility of Bodies with their very real sense of the verve and energy of Argentina, and the darkness that lurks beneath.
March 5, 2022
Opino muchas cosas de este libro.
Primero que en general está bien, tiene lo que necesito de un policial: lectura fácil y rápida, algunos giros inesperados y una protagonista que le pasa una desgracia tras otra.
Segundo, sobre la protagonista: es sin duda el peor personaje del libro. Es evidente que es el papel de una mujer escrito por un varón. Qué es esa fijación con hacerla coger con todo lo que camina, por favor. Es tan ridículo que le quita verosimilitud.
Tercero y cierro, el resto de los personajes están bastante bien, como tucumana me resulto creíble todo el dramón policial y de hijos del poder.
El primer libro me gustó más pero voy a seguir leyendo los que siguen porque soy fan de todas las lecturas droguita.
Primero que en general está bien, tiene lo que necesito de un policial: lectura fácil y rápida, algunos giros inesperados y una protagonista que le pasa una desgracia tras otra.
Segundo, sobre la protagonista: es sin duda el peor personaje del libro. Es evidente que es el papel de una mujer escrito por un varón. Qué es esa fijación con hacerla coger con todo lo que camina, por favor. Es tan ridículo que le quita verosimilitud.
Tercero y cierro, el resto de los personajes están bastante bien, como tucumana me resulto creíble todo el dramón policial y de hijos del poder.
El primer libro me gustó más pero voy a seguir leyendo los que siguen porque soy fan de todas las lecturas droguita.
January 15, 2021
Las que me siguen, saben que mis reseñas son muy cortitas, y casi no dicen de que trata el libro, porque prefiero contar que me pareció y no de que trata. Este policial me atrapó desde la página uno, trajo a mi memoria el triste crimen de María Soledad Morales, el primer femicidio del que recuerdo haber escuchado y seguido en las noticias. Totalmente cautivante e imposible de dejarlo. Una de esas novelas que sé que no se borrarán con el tiempo. Obvio, lo recomiendo
August 17, 2016
tengo miedo por mi economía. necesito el siguiente libro. necesito todos los libros de este hombre. necesito.
es crudo, gráfico, sensible, no para un segundo, tiene personajes maravillosos (federico, FEDERICO), mucha subtrama, muchos recovecos que se terminan enroscando todos juntos en un final que todavía no sé si llamar perfecto o devastador, está lleno de feminismo por todos lados y el ritmo de la historia es simplemente excelente, no puedo escribir una review apropiada porque lo terminé esta misma tarde y mi vida ya se siente un poco vacía. Lo mejor que leí en todo el año (y eso que leí el 8vo de harry potter que para mí fue un enorme acontecimiento emocional).
es crudo, gráfico, sensible, no para un segundo, tiene personajes maravillosos (federico, FEDERICO), mucha subtrama, muchos recovecos que se terminan enroscando todos juntos en un final que todavía no sé si llamar perfecto o devastador, está lleno de feminismo por todos lados y el ritmo de la historia es simplemente excelente, no puedo escribir una review apropiada porque lo terminé esta misma tarde y mi vida ya se siente un poco vacía. Lo mejor que leí en todo el año (y eso que leí el 8vo de harry potter que para mí fue un enorme acontecimiento emocional).
June 5, 2021
My exploration of translated fiction has led me to some wonderful discoveries and Bitter Lemon Press’ series of Latin American crime fiction have certainly been a major part of this. I have thoroughly enjoyed publications from Cuba’s Leonardo Padura, Mexico’s Rolo Diez, Patricia Melo from Brazil and more recently Mercedes Rosende from Uruguay. Notably from Argentina I have relished Claudia Pineiro’s novels translated by Miranda France. Set in the same country, “The Fragility of Bodies” by Sergio Olguín, which was also translated by France is as good a Latin American novel as I have read.
The latter introduced Buenos Aires based investigative journalist Veronica Rosenthal to English language readers with a very compelling and multilayered story focused on child exploitation. Thirty-year-old Rosenthal who is Jewish, proved herself to be feisty and headstrong with a determination to protect the vulnerable. Indeed, towards the novel’s climax she single-handedly saves her informant from four contracted assassins. With the possible opening remaining to investigate the criminal connections to Argentine high society – and perhaps even links to her father’s legal firm - I suspected this would be a theme of the subsequent novel. Therefore, I was quite surprised that Olguín took such a very different approach.
“Foreign Girls” sees a worn out Rosenthal taking a break from her job, friends and life in Buenos Aires as she flies out to San Miguel de Tucuman. Her destination is the unoccupied home of her cousin on the Cerro San Javier mountain. She relaxes for a week before planning to explore other areas within north west Argentina. For readers this should ordinarily provide us with an unexpected opportunity to get a taste of luxury and tranquility in a picturesque region of the country; had we not already have seen the foreboding prologue of emails between Rosenthal and her best friend back in the city. She encounters two European backpackers Frida from Norway and Petra from Italy. As they get along well together, they agree to spend some further time at her cousin’s cottage. Rosenthal is comfortable with them both but a little perplexed by the relationship between the two girls. Later to her surprise she has a romantic encounter with one of them; and to her further surprise, fully enjoys the experience. Her confused feelings eventually persuade her to take some distance from them.
In a separate parallel story, we also see trouble brewing for the journalist as the surviving hitman from the previous novel is assisted to escape prison and is determined to extract vengeance upon her. Hearing of the man’s escape Rosenthal’s father dispatches Federico, a trusted junior member of his law firm who also happens to be in love with Rosenthal, to retrieve her in order to enable her personal safety.
In the meanwhile, Rosenthal and the girls travel to the nearby historic town of Yacanto del Valle where they meet up the cousin of her own cousin’s wife Ramiro. He invites them to the party of a local landowner and the following morning, Rosenthal decides to continue her travels on her own. A few days later, the bodies of the two foreign girls are found in undergrowth with sacrificial offerings suggesting a Macumbra rite killing.
The deaths attract nationwide attention with the provincial prosecutor keen to secure a quick arrest. Dissatisfied with the investigations of the police, and the competing rivalries between the prosecutor and judiciary; the grieving Rosenthal vows to secure justice for her friends. Yet while unwittingly already in danger, her actions drive her into further trouble from vested interests within the local region.
Inspired by real events, Olguín explores the tragic theme of femicide in a country where one woman is killed on average every 32 hours through this novel. Through Rosenthal’s investigations we hear about other murders of young females, some aged as young as 15, from the Yacanto del Valle province. We meet a local girl from a humble background who lost her own sister in similar circumstances. The authorities lack of investigation into these crimes is shown while we also learn that many of the victims were in the proximity of men from higher social classes. For the case of Rosenthal’s friends, Federico warns her that it would be much harder for her to get a conviction should wealthier culprits appear responsible of their murder. Therefore, the inequalities of the justice system, as well as corruption and bureaucracy are also displayed in a novel high on social issues. Femicide aside, these are also themes that are explored in “The Fragility of Bodies”, and this is a worth follow up.
“The Foreign Girls” can be read as a standalone novel as the required backstory on Rosenthal and Federico is provided. There is very little interaction with the other surviving characters of the first novel due to the countryside setting in this sequel. So do not be deterred from reading this novel first. Despite some of the heavy subject nature, the story is for the most part action packed thriller as the key protagonist delves into her investigations never quite sure of where danger lurks or who shares her same intentions for justice. With great credit to translator Miranda France the words flow just as fluently as Jim Beam does for Veronica Rosenthal. Reading this book felt like being acquainted with an old friend. For myself as a male reader, I feel that Olguín through France’s translation captures the thought processes of his female lead protagonist in what I feel is a very realistic way. I feel it’s a novel that could have been as convincingly written by a female author as a male one.
Perhaps the one aspect lacking from “The Foreign Girls” is that there are less interweaving and concurrent stories in comparison to “The Fragility Of Bodies”. This is understandable for the second novel in a series when a key protagonist has been established. Furthermore, Olguín should be praised for a dramatic change of setting and tackling some social issues that are of prominent importance to his country. Aside from being entertained, a key purpose of international fiction is to learn about life in different cultures and there is much knowledge to be acquired in this series. Overall “The Foreign Girls” is a very intelligent, compelling and socially conscious thriller set in rural Argentina which will leave you longing for more stories of Veronica Rosenthal. As the novel concludes, we leave her on route back to Buenos Aires. With one concluding novel left to be translated “No Hay Amores Felices” I am anticipating another enthralling quest for justice on her return to the capital.
The latter introduced Buenos Aires based investigative journalist Veronica Rosenthal to English language readers with a very compelling and multilayered story focused on child exploitation. Thirty-year-old Rosenthal who is Jewish, proved herself to be feisty and headstrong with a determination to protect the vulnerable. Indeed, towards the novel’s climax she single-handedly saves her informant from four contracted assassins. With the possible opening remaining to investigate the criminal connections to Argentine high society – and perhaps even links to her father’s legal firm - I suspected this would be a theme of the subsequent novel. Therefore, I was quite surprised that Olguín took such a very different approach.
“Foreign Girls” sees a worn out Rosenthal taking a break from her job, friends and life in Buenos Aires as she flies out to San Miguel de Tucuman. Her destination is the unoccupied home of her cousin on the Cerro San Javier mountain. She relaxes for a week before planning to explore other areas within north west Argentina. For readers this should ordinarily provide us with an unexpected opportunity to get a taste of luxury and tranquility in a picturesque region of the country; had we not already have seen the foreboding prologue of emails between Rosenthal and her best friend back in the city. She encounters two European backpackers Frida from Norway and Petra from Italy. As they get along well together, they agree to spend some further time at her cousin’s cottage. Rosenthal is comfortable with them both but a little perplexed by the relationship between the two girls. Later to her surprise she has a romantic encounter with one of them; and to her further surprise, fully enjoys the experience. Her confused feelings eventually persuade her to take some distance from them.
In a separate parallel story, we also see trouble brewing for the journalist as the surviving hitman from the previous novel is assisted to escape prison and is determined to extract vengeance upon her. Hearing of the man’s escape Rosenthal’s father dispatches Federico, a trusted junior member of his law firm who also happens to be in love with Rosenthal, to retrieve her in order to enable her personal safety.
In the meanwhile, Rosenthal and the girls travel to the nearby historic town of Yacanto del Valle where they meet up the cousin of her own cousin’s wife Ramiro. He invites them to the party of a local landowner and the following morning, Rosenthal decides to continue her travels on her own. A few days later, the bodies of the two foreign girls are found in undergrowth with sacrificial offerings suggesting a Macumbra rite killing.
The deaths attract nationwide attention with the provincial prosecutor keen to secure a quick arrest. Dissatisfied with the investigations of the police, and the competing rivalries between the prosecutor and judiciary; the grieving Rosenthal vows to secure justice for her friends. Yet while unwittingly already in danger, her actions drive her into further trouble from vested interests within the local region.
Inspired by real events, Olguín explores the tragic theme of femicide in a country where one woman is killed on average every 32 hours through this novel. Through Rosenthal’s investigations we hear about other murders of young females, some aged as young as 15, from the Yacanto del Valle province. We meet a local girl from a humble background who lost her own sister in similar circumstances. The authorities lack of investigation into these crimes is shown while we also learn that many of the victims were in the proximity of men from higher social classes. For the case of Rosenthal’s friends, Federico warns her that it would be much harder for her to get a conviction should wealthier culprits appear responsible of their murder. Therefore, the inequalities of the justice system, as well as corruption and bureaucracy are also displayed in a novel high on social issues. Femicide aside, these are also themes that are explored in “The Fragility of Bodies”, and this is a worth follow up.
“The Foreign Girls” can be read as a standalone novel as the required backstory on Rosenthal and Federico is provided. There is very little interaction with the other surviving characters of the first novel due to the countryside setting in this sequel. So do not be deterred from reading this novel first. Despite some of the heavy subject nature, the story is for the most part action packed thriller as the key protagonist delves into her investigations never quite sure of where danger lurks or who shares her same intentions for justice. With great credit to translator Miranda France the words flow just as fluently as Jim Beam does for Veronica Rosenthal. Reading this book felt like being acquainted with an old friend. For myself as a male reader, I feel that Olguín through France’s translation captures the thought processes of his female lead protagonist in what I feel is a very realistic way. I feel it’s a novel that could have been as convincingly written by a female author as a male one.
Perhaps the one aspect lacking from “The Foreign Girls” is that there are less interweaving and concurrent stories in comparison to “The Fragility Of Bodies”. This is understandable for the second novel in a series when a key protagonist has been established. Furthermore, Olguín should be praised for a dramatic change of setting and tackling some social issues that are of prominent importance to his country. Aside from being entertained, a key purpose of international fiction is to learn about life in different cultures and there is much knowledge to be acquired in this series. Overall “The Foreign Girls” is a very intelligent, compelling and socially conscious thriller set in rural Argentina which will leave you longing for more stories of Veronica Rosenthal. As the novel concludes, we leave her on route back to Buenos Aires. With one concluding novel left to be translated “No Hay Amores Felices” I am anticipating another enthralling quest for justice on her return to the capital.
November 24, 2025
no sé si sergio olguin se volvió más básico acá o mis gustos literarios maduraron. me enganchó pero me dio paja de a momentos la visión masculina utrasexualizada de un vínculo lésbico. y ella incomprendida por federico al final. o sea me atrapó pero se notaba que lo escribió un varón. volveré a las lecturas escritas por mujeres
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2023
I still don't fully understand how the police narcos were connected to it all, but overall I enjoyed this. Will definitely read the next one if I can get hold of it easily.
August 19, 2024
FENOMENAL. So gripping and feminist, and Verónica is a badass! I cant wait to read the rest of her adventures, hopefully in spanish 🔥💪
February 21, 2021
This is the second novel of the author’s Veronica Rosenthal series to be translated into English and follows on from the events of the previous title, The Fragility of Bodies. Veronica, an investigative journalist, has gone travelling through the north of Argentina, a holiday to escape the stress of the aftermath of her exposure of the mafia gang which was betting on the lives of youngsters playing chicken against trains in the first novel. In the small town of Yacanto del Valle she meets, and hooks up with, two women who are also travelling: an Italian and a Norwegian. They get invited to a party where Veronica falls out with them and they part ways. But then Veronica discovers the two were murdered that night and the scene made to look like a black magic ritual.
Veronica returns to Yacanto del Valle to investigate and finds a town which town holds many secrets, with powerful landowners holding sway over the townsfolk and able to do whatever they want, and corruption in the institutions of the state. Complicating her investigations is the fact that one of the hitmen from the last novel is pursuing Veronica looking for revenge.
The Foreign Girls is a solid novel and is well-plotted, giving a good insight into the corruption which blights Argentine society. I have read similar non-fiction accounts and so the depiction the author gives appears accurate. Like much of South America, the country is in desperate need of land reform and in rural areas particularly, the wealthy enjoy near-immunity from prosecution. Similarly, there are still dark shadows left from the dictatorship it endured in the not-so-distant past.
That all said, while I enjoyed this novel, I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the previous title. In part this because The Fragility of Bodies had a more original plot than The Foreign Girls, but also because I found the writing in this second outing to be a bit more stilted.
The Foreign Girls remains a great novel however, and with The Fragility of Bodies it had much to live up to, so perhaps it's harsh to compare it with its predecessor.
Veronica returns to Yacanto del Valle to investigate and finds a town which town holds many secrets, with powerful landowners holding sway over the townsfolk and able to do whatever they want, and corruption in the institutions of the state. Complicating her investigations is the fact that one of the hitmen from the last novel is pursuing Veronica looking for revenge.
The Foreign Girls is a solid novel and is well-plotted, giving a good insight into the corruption which blights Argentine society. I have read similar non-fiction accounts and so the depiction the author gives appears accurate. Like much of South America, the country is in desperate need of land reform and in rural areas particularly, the wealthy enjoy near-immunity from prosecution. Similarly, there are still dark shadows left from the dictatorship it endured in the not-so-distant past.
That all said, while I enjoyed this novel, I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the previous title. In part this because The Fragility of Bodies had a more original plot than The Foreign Girls, but also because I found the writing in this second outing to be a bit more stilted.
The Foreign Girls remains a great novel however, and with The Fragility of Bodies it had much to live up to, so perhaps it's harsh to compare it with its predecessor.
June 6, 2018
Las primeras 300 págs, no generó desvelo ni expectativa. La trama hasta entonces me pareció algo lenta y solo después de leer mas de la mitad del libro, logró captar realmente mi atención. Venía de leer “Oscura monótona sangre” el cual me pareció una obra maestra y éste en cambio decepcionó, o mas bien no cumplió con todas las expectativas.
Por empezar, el escritor cuenta una parte de la historia dos veces desde distintos narradores. Saber lo que va a suceder en detalle, solo a unas páginas de haber comenzado, pero contado desde otro punto de vista me mal predispuso.
Por otro lado, por muchos momentos la historia parece irreal, como si fuese una historia de detectives para niños. La hace inverosímil el hecho de que se conjuguen tantos factores para que todo salga de acuerdo a lo planeado. Las relaciones que se forman y esa excelente predisposición a resolver el crimen y “jugar“ a ser detectives, sencillamente es poco creíble.
Las tres estrellas van por el final el cual esta dividido: una parte parecería irreal, aburrida. Y sin embargo otra, el desenlace me encantó más al estilo Olguín que venía leyendo.
Es una novela interesante, su vocabulario también, pero esperaba que fuese más atrapante y que estuviese más empapada con el tema del narcotráfico el cual levemente mencionan.
Por empezar, el escritor cuenta una parte de la historia dos veces desde distintos narradores. Saber lo que va a suceder en detalle, solo a unas páginas de haber comenzado, pero contado desde otro punto de vista me mal predispuso.
Por otro lado, por muchos momentos la historia parece irreal, como si fuese una historia de detectives para niños. La hace inverosímil el hecho de que se conjuguen tantos factores para que todo salga de acuerdo a lo planeado. Las relaciones que se forman y esa excelente predisposición a resolver el crimen y “jugar“ a ser detectives, sencillamente es poco creíble.
Las tres estrellas van por el final el cual esta dividido: una parte parecería irreal, aburrida. Y sin embargo otra, el desenlace me encantó más al estilo Olguín que venía leyendo.
Es una novela interesante, su vocabulario también, pero esperaba que fuese más atrapante y que estuviese más empapada con el tema del narcotráfico el cual levemente mencionan.
January 21, 2022
Primero que nada recordar que puntúe muy bien la primera entrega de esta saga, La Fragilidad de los cuerpos, así que si no comparten conmigo esa noción, esta review les resultará obsoleta.
No se si es prosa perfecta, si la narrativa es impactante y genial. Sólo se que no lo solté mientras pude. Momento que tenía libre, momento que lo agarraba para seguir. No me pasa tan seguido como me gustaría. Es atrapante y ágil. Excelente continuación de LFDLC y el retorno de personajes que llegue a apreciar mucho. Ideal como lectura de verano, que le dicen.
No se si es prosa perfecta, si la narrativa es impactante y genial. Sólo se que no lo solté mientras pude. Momento que tenía libre, momento que lo agarraba para seguir. No me pasa tan seguido como me gustaría. Es atrapante y ágil. Excelente continuación de LFDLC y el retorno de personajes que llegue a apreciar mucho. Ideal como lectura de verano, que le dicen.
August 28, 2021
La segunda parte de las aventuras de Verónica Rosenthal, por ello todos las personajes principales como Federico, Patricia y Paola ya están bien delineados, sabemos más de su vida.
Los personajes de Luca y Mariano es una pareja gay que dirige la posada en donde se quedan Verónica y sus amigas, es una pareja super cute y tierna me encantan.
La crítica que se hace a la impunidad y la violencia de género fluye tan bien en la trama que se siente natural y bien construida.
Por último sale mi yo fangirl pues la pareja de Verónica y Federico me parece tan tierna, pasional y leal que cuando se da el romance, yo estaba super feliz aunque me partió el corazón que Federico se alejara de ella.
Los personajes de Luca y Mariano es una pareja gay que dirige la posada en donde se quedan Verónica y sus amigas, es una pareja super cute y tierna me encantan.
La crítica que se hace a la impunidad y la violencia de género fluye tan bien en la trama que se siente natural y bien construida.
Por último sale mi yo fangirl pues la pareja de Verónica y Federico me parece tan tierna, pasional y leal que cuando se da el romance, yo estaba super feliz aunque me partió el corazón que Federico se alejara de ella.
February 1, 2015
amé este libro.. la trama el final todo, podes leer este libro sin haber leido el primero que la comprension de la historia no cambia para nada. y xq no le di 5 estrellas?? simple..no me gusto como estaba relatado.. me confundia.. tenia que releer las conversaciones xq no especifica quien dice cada cosa.. pero es genial
September 30, 2014
Ehh... no sé. Ni me gustó, ni no me gustó.
September 25, 2023
Discover the locations in the novel here
A novel to transport you to Argentina and its small towns
Now this is the second book in a series, but never fear – you don’t have to have read the first one to enjoy this one. I didn’t but I will now!
Veronica, a journalist travels and ends up sharing a hotel with two girls she has just met. When they are found dead the next day, she is shocked that the police don’t seem to be investigating it so she decides to take matters in her own hands. Trouble is, this is the start of something very dangerous and there are lots of people who do not want her meddling.
Veronica is usually investigating something in Buenos Aires but here she is in rural Argentina and so she is definatly out of her comfort zone. She is not afraid to go the extra mile and she is very headstrong.
What I loved about this book is the style in which the story was written. I read a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Chronicle of a Death Foretold ) in which the murder happens at the start and you see the planning and the lead up to it very early on. It’s only after that the actual murder takes place. I love this way of crime writing – Japan and South American authors do it very well. I feel it really added to the plot and story here.
And what a treat to see the remote villages of Argentina! You get a real sense of travel, time and space and it’s a joy to experience the landscape in this way. You get a sense of isolation and remoteness from the fact Veronica is used to the big city of Buenos Aires and that she is finding her way just as we are as the reader.
The tang of Argentina and the flavour of that country and language come through loud and clear and once you scratch the mystery, you are led down a very dark path. The themes of ritualistic killings of women is hard to read about but this book was apparently inspired by real life as women are treated as second class citizens, That makes this novel all the more impactful and tragically sad.
March 26, 2021
3.5 rounded to 4!!
TW: explicit scenes, graphic crimes, corruption, murder, sexual assault, racial slurs
This book is not for the faint of heart! If you’re not into a little substance to your murders then steer clear! I liked this one a lot and I’m always really intrigued by books that are inspired by real events because I always want to know what exactly happened in the real events and how the author embodied the characters that were based on characters to the point that the author has an idea of what coffee they would order, I know nothing about writing a book but it just seems to me that inspiring it on true events would make it such an immersive experience.
This book was a little too steamy for my liking I skimmed through a few parts but it didn’t add/detract from the story so I think that if you like steam it’s fine if you don’t you can do the book equivalent of “fast forwarding” a movie. 😂
I’m still a bit confused as to why the ritual magic stuff was put near the bodies but I assume that’s what happened in the real crime but I don’t know and I think there may have been so many characters that I got confused and didn’t quite understand what the ultimate reason for it was...
I also enjoyed the competing story lines but one of them ends very anticlimactically but I have my fingers crossed that that’s what happened in the real crime so it was recreated but I don’t think that was the case because it had to do with the main character and the main character is a reappearing figure in multiple novels.
So finally, this is the second book with this investigative journalist but I didn’t read the first one and it was absolutely good enough to be a standalone! I was on the edge of my seat dying to know what happened most of the book!!!
TW: explicit scenes, graphic crimes, corruption, murder, sexual assault, racial slurs
This book is not for the faint of heart! If you’re not into a little substance to your murders then steer clear! I liked this one a lot and I’m always really intrigued by books that are inspired by real events because I always want to know what exactly happened in the real events and how the author embodied the characters that were based on characters to the point that the author has an idea of what coffee they would order, I know nothing about writing a book but it just seems to me that inspiring it on true events would make it such an immersive experience.
This book was a little too steamy for my liking I skimmed through a few parts but it didn’t add/detract from the story so I think that if you like steam it’s fine if you don’t you can do the book equivalent of “fast forwarding” a movie. 😂
I’m still a bit confused as to why the ritual magic stuff was put near the bodies but I assume that’s what happened in the real crime but I don’t know and I think there may have been so many characters that I got confused and didn’t quite understand what the ultimate reason for it was...
I also enjoyed the competing story lines but one of them ends very anticlimactically but I have my fingers crossed that that’s what happened in the real crime so it was recreated but I don’t think that was the case because it had to do with the main character and the main character is a reappearing figure in multiple novels.
So finally, this is the second book with this investigative journalist but I didn’t read the first one and it was absolutely good enough to be a standalone! I was on the edge of my seat dying to know what happened most of the book!!!
May 3, 2021
This is Olguin's second book featuring his fearless, impulsive, Argentinian journalist Veronica Rosenthal, the first being The Fragility of Bodies. Reading more than one in a series helps to prove the pudding. So I now definitely recommend these books; not only for their suspense and excitement but for the particular social background of his crime stories.
In this book Veronica decides to take a long holiday away from Buenos Aires after the traumatic events of the previous novel and accepts an offer to borrow a relative's house in a rural province. Along the way she invites two tourists that she meets in a cafe to stay with her. These are the foreign girls, Italian and Norwegian, of the title. But the two young women disappear, after Veronica leaves a party that she has taken them to. Her guilt and grief when they are found murdered, apparent victims of a ritual, brutal attack, spurs her on to find out what really happened to them.
In the process of her investigations Veronica reveals the age-old deception and corruption amongst the connected classes that underpins many socially based crime stories but Olguin's stories illuminate Argentina's particular historical and cultural basis for these connections. And this is always a new and refreshing understanding for me as the reader. With suspense, excitement and a deepening knowledge of Veronica's drives and fears, this is a second volume of a thrilling contemporary crime series.
With special thanks to Bitter Lemon Press for a review copy.
In this book Veronica decides to take a long holiday away from Buenos Aires after the traumatic events of the previous novel and accepts an offer to borrow a relative's house in a rural province. Along the way she invites two tourists that she meets in a cafe to stay with her. These are the foreign girls, Italian and Norwegian, of the title. But the two young women disappear, after Veronica leaves a party that she has taken them to. Her guilt and grief when they are found murdered, apparent victims of a ritual, brutal attack, spurs her on to find out what really happened to them.
In the process of her investigations Veronica reveals the age-old deception and corruption amongst the connected classes that underpins many socially based crime stories but Olguin's stories illuminate Argentina's particular historical and cultural basis for these connections. And this is always a new and refreshing understanding for me as the reader. With suspense, excitement and a deepening knowledge of Veronica's drives and fears, this is a second volume of a thrilling contemporary crime series.
With special thanks to Bitter Lemon Press for a review copy.
June 16, 2021
La saga de Verónica Rosenthal es lo mas atrapante que leí en mucho tiempo.
Lo primero que pensé al comenzar los libros fue que Sergio Olguin escribe como mujer. No se como
explicarlo, pero casi siempre que leo algo con una mujer protagonista y en primera persona escrito por un hombre, me pongo nerviosa y no me lo creo. En este caso no es asi, lo mismo me pasó con la saga Millenium y está genial.
Después, Verónica es un personaje espectacular. Periodista obsesiva y medio chiflada, impulsiva y my valiene, es la protagonista ideal de un policial.
Me leí los dos primeros al hilo así que un poco se me mezclan pero los temas que trata también me parecen magistrales en su elección, se nota que Olguín tiene mucho compromiso social.
En el primer libro (La fragilidad de los cuerpos) toca tema de mafias y usos y maltratos
de menores en el conurbano de Buenos Aires y termina hablando de corrupción policial y judicial y nos lleva por ahí Vero en sus investigaciones.
En el segundo libro, Las extranjeras, se mete con los femicidios y la trata de mujeres y también con la impunidad que tienen los ricos y poderosos.
En el tercero que estoy empezando se mete con la iglesia católica y su abuso de poder y la mezcla con las adopciones ilegales (O ventas) de niños en Argentina.
Los mega recomiendo, además de todo esto, está tan bien escrito que muchísimos capítulos te dejan soriendo a pesar de que lo que esta pasando es mega jodido.
Lo primero que pensé al comenzar los libros fue que Sergio Olguin escribe como mujer. No se como
explicarlo, pero casi siempre que leo algo con una mujer protagonista y en primera persona escrito por un hombre, me pongo nerviosa y no me lo creo. En este caso no es asi, lo mismo me pasó con la saga Millenium y está genial.
Después, Verónica es un personaje espectacular. Periodista obsesiva y medio chiflada, impulsiva y my valiene, es la protagonista ideal de un policial.
Me leí los dos primeros al hilo así que un poco se me mezclan pero los temas que trata también me parecen magistrales en su elección, se nota que Olguín tiene mucho compromiso social.
En el primer libro (La fragilidad de los cuerpos) toca tema de mafias y usos y maltratos
de menores en el conurbano de Buenos Aires y termina hablando de corrupción policial y judicial y nos lleva por ahí Vero en sus investigaciones.
En el segundo libro, Las extranjeras, se mete con los femicidios y la trata de mujeres y también con la impunidad que tienen los ricos y poderosos.
En el tercero que estoy empezando se mete con la iglesia católica y su abuso de poder y la mezcla con las adopciones ilegales (O ventas) de niños en Argentina.
Los mega recomiendo, además de todo esto, está tan bien escrito que muchísimos capítulos te dejan soriendo a pesar de que lo que esta pasando es mega jodido.
March 18, 2021
I like reading books translated from other tongues. It's nice to get inside different experiences and lives. So I didn enjoy reading this. I thought this book was going to be a mystery, I think in the end it's more of a thriller.
Veronica is an interesting character to follow through the plot, and the book is quite sexy, which is fun. Without wanting to give anything away, there's some bad guys after her from the first book, which I haven't read, and I found these parts a little dragging and slow. I might not feel that way if I'd read the first book, but I don't think you have to have read it to read this one, on the whole. This book does have things in it which gives away the ending of the previous book though.
The crime in the book isn't all that graphic, compartively. It's not a gory book. But I did look up the case it's based on, which was an interesting side rabbit hole to go down. The book is more concerned with Veronica, her relationships, her place in the world and how she feels about it than the investigation of the crime, on the whole, though the mystery of who did it is also part of the story. It also focuses on the society she lives in, and its inherent misogyny and nepotism. So, it's an interesting read, even though I did find the side plot slowed down the book on the whole.
This was sent to be as a review copy by the publisher.
Veronica is an interesting character to follow through the plot, and the book is quite sexy, which is fun. Without wanting to give anything away, there's some bad guys after her from the first book, which I haven't read, and I found these parts a little dragging and slow. I might not feel that way if I'd read the first book, but I don't think you have to have read it to read this one, on the whole. This book does have things in it which gives away the ending of the previous book though.
The crime in the book isn't all that graphic, compartively. It's not a gory book. But I did look up the case it's based on, which was an interesting side rabbit hole to go down. The book is more concerned with Veronica, her relationships, her place in the world and how she feels about it than the investigation of the crime, on the whole, though the mystery of who did it is also part of the story. It also focuses on the society she lives in, and its inherent misogyny and nepotism. So, it's an interesting read, even though I did find the side plot slowed down the book on the whole.
This was sent to be as a review copy by the publisher.
February 10, 2021
Veronica Rosenthal, a young journalist, decides to get away from it all, touring scenic northern Argentina. While relaxing off the beaten path, she encounters two foreign tourists. One girl from Italy, the other from Scandinavia. The trio become fast friends, deciding to travel together, spending time at the country house of Veronica’s cousin. But when Victoria’s travel companions become targets of the locals, she becomes determined to uncover the truth of their fate.
Olguin creates a wonderful, complex mystery while exploring political and social issues of the region. Veronica is a brilliantly complex character whose tenacity keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. The story is well-paced. The vivid descriptions of the setting places the reader right at the center of northern Argentina. The translation was well-edited and flowed easily.
The English translation of The Foreign Girls is currently available for pre-order ahead of it’s scheduled release on March 23rd, 2021. I would like to thank Meryl Zegarek Public Relations Inc for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
Olguin creates a wonderful, complex mystery while exploring political and social issues of the region. Veronica is a brilliantly complex character whose tenacity keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. The story is well-paced. The vivid descriptions of the setting places the reader right at the center of northern Argentina. The translation was well-edited and flowed easily.
The English translation of The Foreign Girls is currently available for pre-order ahead of it’s scheduled release on March 23rd, 2021. I would like to thank Meryl Zegarek Public Relations Inc for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
January 24, 2021
A young journalist from Buenos Aires, Veronica Rosenthal, takes a vacation in the north of Argentina, traveling to smaller towns through more scenic areas. She meets two tourists, girls from Scandinavia and the other from Italy. Veronica befriends them, they stay for a few days at Veronica's cousin's house in the hills and they decide to travel together in the area. But the foreign girls, innocent of the locals and the region, become targets in a game in which they come out for the worst.
The journalist is determined to stay in northern Argentina to find the truth about what happened to the girls, even if it might involve people she and her family know.
Veronica is a complex character, but a determined one who isn't afraid of danger or taking risks to achieve her goals. The relationship between herself, the locals, and the foreign girls take the novel to a level that explain the lengths she will go to resolve the issue of her newfound friends.
The plot, the setting, and character development made this an intriguing mystery novel.
My rating: 4/5 stars
The journalist is determined to stay in northern Argentina to find the truth about what happened to the girls, even if it might involve people she and her family know.
Veronica is a complex character, but a determined one who isn't afraid of danger or taking risks to achieve her goals. The relationship between herself, the locals, and the foreign girls take the novel to a level that explain the lengths she will go to resolve the issue of her newfound friends.
The plot, the setting, and character development made this an intriguing mystery novel.
My rating: 4/5 stars
August 3, 2025
Las Extranjeras de Sergio Olguín
Descubrí a Sergio Olguín con su última novela y quedé atrapada por su prosa realista y muy argentina. Está historia atrapa por la fuerza de su personaje principal, sus conflictos sentimentales-existenciales y los casos periodísticos en que se embarca, siempre en lucha contra la corrupción de los poderes políticos, empresariales o religiosos. La lectura es vertiginosa.
Tres emails forman el prólogo que nos ubica en tiempo y lugar. Yacanto del Valle, provincia de Tucumán, Verónica Rosenthal l disfruta de sus vacaciones, conoce a dos jóvenes turistas, que aparecerán muertas y decide investigar para dar con los asesinos. Los primeros capítulos se centran en la relación sentimental entre dos protagonistas.
La novela amalgama romance y misterio al abordar la sociedad argentina tras la última dictadura. Más que una serie de crímenes explora el impacto del pasado reciente, el tema de los femicidios y dinámicas de poder, mostrando distintas miradas entre sus personajes. Es una obra recomendable.
Descubrí a Sergio Olguín con su última novela y quedé atrapada por su prosa realista y muy argentina. Está historia atrapa por la fuerza de su personaje principal, sus conflictos sentimentales-existenciales y los casos periodísticos en que se embarca, siempre en lucha contra la corrupción de los poderes políticos, empresariales o religiosos. La lectura es vertiginosa.
Tres emails forman el prólogo que nos ubica en tiempo y lugar. Yacanto del Valle, provincia de Tucumán, Verónica Rosenthal l disfruta de sus vacaciones, conoce a dos jóvenes turistas, que aparecerán muertas y decide investigar para dar con los asesinos. Los primeros capítulos se centran en la relación sentimental entre dos protagonistas.
La novela amalgama romance y misterio al abordar la sociedad argentina tras la última dictadura. Más que una serie de crímenes explora el impacto del pasado reciente, el tema de los femicidios y dinámicas de poder, mostrando distintas miradas entre sus personajes. Es una obra recomendable.
March 17, 2021
Veronica, an investigative journalist, finds herself seeking the truth about the murder of two women - Petra and Frida- while dodging someone who wants her dead. She met the women while vacationing in Tucuman. She had sex with Frida but then opted to move on, not knowing that they would be raped, killed, and left by the side of the road. Determined to get answers, she delves into the sewers of corruption in the town, and puts herself at risk. I missed the first book but Olguin gives enough background so that I understood why there's another man who wants her dead. She's an unusual woman, to say the least. Federico, her father's protoge, is in love with her but he's also, well, no spoilers. This is dark and gritty and at times the style might be a bit confusing but stick with it. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. A good read, especially for those interested in world crime fiction.
March 5, 2020
Segunda entrega de la serie de Veronica rosenthal. En este caso la acción se desplaza desde Buenos Aires a tucuman y yacanto del valle.
Un caso de violacion y asesinato de dos europeas que han coincidido con Vetonica hacen que sea algo muy personal para intentar esclarecer y descubrir a los culpables pese a las trabs de la gente importante de la zona incolucrada en asuntos turbios.
La relacion con Federico se hace mas estrecha aunque este recibe presiones por parte de toda la familia rosenthal.
Buenos y creibles personajes van apareciendo a lo lrgo del proceso policial juridico y periodistico de aclarar los hechos.
Remanentes del caso anterior ,de las apuestaa de los trenes, tambien gienen proragobismo ofreciendo aun mas aspectos del caso y las compñicaciones que rodean a veronica.
Un caso de violacion y asesinato de dos europeas que han coincidido con Vetonica hacen que sea algo muy personal para intentar esclarecer y descubrir a los culpables pese a las trabs de la gente importante de la zona incolucrada en asuntos turbios.
La relacion con Federico se hace mas estrecha aunque este recibe presiones por parte de toda la familia rosenthal.
Buenos y creibles personajes van apareciendo a lo lrgo del proceso policial juridico y periodistico de aclarar los hechos.
Remanentes del caso anterior ,de las apuestaa de los trenes, tambien gienen proragobismo ofreciendo aun mas aspectos del caso y las compñicaciones que rodean a veronica.
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