Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes,

FITZCARRALDO, £10.99 (EBOOK £4.99).

REVIEW BY SCARLETT SANGSTER

Set in the author’s native Mexico, Paradais is a short but relentless read about a pair of dispossessed youths, whose all-consuming fury at their place within the social system leads them down a sinister path. Polo, a 16-year-old dropout, is forced to work as a cleaner on the upper-class estate, Paradais. Here, he meets Franco, a rich but deplorable outcast, who Polo uses for free booze and cigarettes, while being forced to listen to Franco’s benign sexual fantasies about his middle-aged neighbour. Written in an all-consuming, modernist style, Paradais immerses the reader in Polo’s thoughts, taking you with him down a spiral of loneliness.