The English-language edition of Cien cuyes (One Hundred Guinea Pigs) by Peruvian author Gustavo Rodríguez and beautifully translated from the Spanish by Daniel Hahn, which will be published by Charco Press in the US and the UK in July 2026, is an English PEN Translate Award winner! Like, every year, books are selected for PEN Translate Awards on the basis of outstanding literary quality, the strength of the publishing project, and their contribution to UK bibliodiversity.
This novel, which centers the conversations around the topic of euthanasia, won the prestigious Spanish-language Alfaguara Prize for Novels in 2023 and has sold over 50,000 copies in Spanish. It has also been recommended by Dua Lipa’s Service95 as one of 21 Must-Read Books To Have On Your Radar In 2026.
The list of rights sold stands like this for now:
ARABIC | Dar Kalemat
ENGLISH (World) | Charco Press *July 2026
FRENCH | Éditions de l'Observatoire *out now
GREEK | Klidarithmos *out now
ITALIAN | Bompiani *out now
SPANISH (World) | Alfaguara *50K copies sold
In Cien cuyes, Eufrasia, a woman pressed by economic needs in a country with big class gaps, has become essential company for some of them. If she managed to raise enough money to buy enough guinea pigs, she could start a new life, as her uncle always told her.
So, every day, she travels across the city on public transport to help Doña Carmen, who needs extra support because she’s been feeling down lately and has lost almost all touch with her daughter. Eufrasia is good with emotional support, so good in fact that she starts to work for another neighbour in the same building: Jack Harrison, a retired, widowed, and deeply lonely doctor who enjoys jazz and whisky. She will also begin working at the local nursing home, where a group of elders have built a family and call themselves “The Magnificent Seven”.
Despite Eufrasia’s care, the lives of these characters are drowned in medication, bland meals at regular hours, TV movies, ailments, and the occasional conversation, only to remember that the end is around the corner. Eufrasia is aware of all this, and she also knows that her close relationship and the trust she has managed to establish with all of them will end up bringing her to a crossroads.
For more information about the above title, please contact Anna Soler-Pont (anna[at]pontas-agency.com).