Animals across the world have been infected by a virus that has made them poisonous. The government has ordered the culling of livestock, emptied the zoos, and made umbrellas compulsory to prevent diseased bird droppings from falling on people. There’s a rise in cannibalism. The poor, low-caste, and immigrants start disappearing. World leaders legalize cannibalism and industries that breed people as animals for meat crop up as a result. The vocal cords of these humans are cut as ‘meat doesn’t talk’. It’s also illegal to call them humans so they are referred to as heads. Their meat is called ‘special meat’. At the Krieg Processing Plant, a place that readies heads for consumption, livestock (humans in this case) is sawed open, and separated into different bunches, like eyes, tongues, entrails etc. The meat is cut into small pieces till it bears no resemblance to a human being—just like we have seen being done to chicken, goats, and other animals. The skin is made into leather. Marcos Tejo, who works at Krieg, has a lot of problems in life. His son died. His wife left him, and his dad’s dementia is worsening. Then a colleague sends him a head as a specimen. It’s against the law to keep a head at home. There are routine checks to ensure they aren’t being used as maids or even ‘sex-slaves’. But Marcos starts training her to be ‘more human’ as he develops feelings for her. He names her Jasmine as she smells like it. This sudden connection with a reared-for-meat human being forces him to confront the way he has been living till now. Then Jasmine gets pregnant and Marcos has to find ways to keep this hidden as it could send them both to the municipal slaughterhouse.

It takes a lot for me to be truly horrified by a story. ‘Tender is the Flesh’ by Agustina Bazterrica made me shudder from the first page. I still wince when I think about it. I thought I would breeze through it because it was just a little over 200 pages long. But it took me such a long time to read. I could only read 10 to 15 pages at the most. Even that felt too much, and I usually read 50 to 100 pages in one sitting.

Tender is the Flesh, Bazterrica’s second novel, is a disturbing take on what we would do in a world without meat. It also feels like a critique on how capitalism makes us forget our morals, and how humans are capable of the most horrifying deeds, if they think the outcome will be their favor. Three and a half stars Fiction Tender is the Flesh Agustina Bazterrica Translated from the Spanish by Sarah Moses Published: 2020 Publisher: Scribner Pages: 224, Paperback