(* China. Pronounced 'cheena': designation for female, from the Quechua. Iron: The English word for Fierro,reference to the gaucho Mart¡n Fierro, from Jos‚ Hern ndez?s epic poem.)
A riotous romp taking the reader from the frontier culture of the pampas deep into indigenous territories. It charts the adventures of China Iron, Mart¡n Fierro?s abandoned wife, in her travels across the pampas in a wagon with her new-found friend and lover, Liz. While Liz provides China with a sentimental education and schools her in the nefarious ways of the British Empire, their eyes are opened to the wonders of Argentina?s richly diverse flora and fauna, cultures and languages, as well as to its struggles. After a clash with Colonel Hern ndez (the author who ?stole? Mart¡n Fierro?s poems) and a drunken orgy with gauchos, they eventually find refuge and a peaceful future in an utopian indigenous community. In a unique reformulation of history and literary tradition, Gabriela Cabez¢n C mara, with humour and sophistication, re-writes Mart¡n Fierro from a feminist, LGBT, postcolonial point of view. She creates a hilarious novel that is nevertheless incisive in its criticism of the way societies come into being, and the way they venerate mythical heroes.