The Queens Of Sarmiento Park

Camila Sosa Villada

Auntie Encarna's house is the queerest boarding house in the world. For Camila, who grew up as a boy in a small town in Argentina, but now lives as a woman, it is home. The queens around her are her family: Auntie Encarna, who is 178 years old; Maria, who can't speak, and has feathers growing out of her back; and a host of other glittering characters.

At night, they head together to Sarmiento Park, in the heart of the city, a large green lung with a zoo and a theme park. Potential johns cruise by in their cars, slowing down to inspect the group before selecting one with the wave of an arm. The chosen woman answers their call. Night after night, nothing changes.

Until, one freezing night, Auntie Encarna hears crying coming from the bushes. A baby boy, lost and alone. Auntie Encarna puts him in her handbag and brings him home, determined to protect him. To be a mother.

But the forces of oppression, prejudice and fear surround the family and their foundling - and soon the happiness they clutched at begins to seem like an impossible fairy tale ...

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