| Sumario: | Claudia Piñeiro is a widely read author of crime and mystery novels. Her sixth novel, however, departs from the noir genre and the suspense-filled conspiracies that appear in Las viudas de los jueves (2005), Las grietas de Jara (2009), and Betibú (2011). Set in the mid-1970s in Argentina, Un comunista en calzoncillos (2013) has received attention for its portrayal of the months leading up to the coup d'état of March 1976 that ushered in a dictatorship in Argentina. While the novel abounds in descriptions of the tense political climate of that period, its central character is an adolescent girl who becomes aware of the strains in her community. This article investigates Piñeiro's self-depiction of her transition from childhood to adulthood. "Herstory" consists of her deductions as a result of her furtive glances and daring looks at the adults in her life and conversations with her friends at a critical moment in her development. Un comunista en calzoncillos also presents two different female roles available in Argentina in the 1970s for the sharp-eyed adolescent. The nexus between female adolescence and gender roles is Piñeiro's feminism.
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