Spring has arrived, the time to enjoy a book under a tree, in those bars and restaurants that invite you to read the en your favorite terrace It seems as if publishers are preparing for the Day of the book, since this month they have already released a good handful of very juicy news. Some full of music and emotion. In almost everything, women are the protagonists: some inspired by real people, such as Lucrezia de Médici, María ‘la Javelina’ or Lissette, the grandmother of Mahias Malzieu; others, in fictional characters, strong, attractive and funny women. Good readings to receive the good weather in the best way: reading.
‘The Married Portrait’, by Maggie O’Farrell
After the success of ‘Hamnet’, O’Farrell continues with historical fiction. This time the chosen character is the unfortunate Lucrezia de’ Medici, married at the age of 15 against her will to the Duke of Ferrara. The story begins with a trip in which the young duchess fears for her life, convinced as she is that her husband wishes her death. From there, the author goes on a trip to the palace where she was born and her relationships with her brothers, parents and her servants, reflecting the concerns, expectations and fears of the young woman.
A precise prose that makes every detail shine like a jewel and be tangible, and very attractive for the reader, since it fulfills a double function: on the one hand, it invites us from the first page to sympathize with the young duchess; on the other, he attacks the dynastic system and the trauma that marriages of convenience entail for women who are still children.
As the narration is not linear, but jumps forwards and backwards in time and in the different settings that the Duchess inhabited, that makes it a tremendously addictive novel: in some chapters you want to know what happened before, in others you can’t let go of the book until you find out what will happen next. Subtle and beautiful novel, brimming with nuances, which dives into deep human emotions.
‘María, la Javelina’, by Cristina Durán and Miguel A. Giner Bou
Once again, Cristina and Miguel do an extraordinary job of documentation to elaborate, rigorously and without pretension, a moving and at the same time truthful historical reconstruction. The capacity for synthesis offered by a medium such as the comic makes it possible to make the story of María Pérez Lacruz, ‘la Jabalina’, known in depth. After the civil war, Maria was wrongfully accused of crimes she could not have committed: Although she went to the front to defend the Republic, a week later she was seriously injured and, after months in hospital, her injury only allowed her to work as a nurse.
That was documented and still they humiliated her, imprisoned her and shot her. Durán’s characteristic thick and geometric lines and a well-structured script —in which nothing is left over or missing— make ‘María ‘la Jabalina” a work of enormous narrative effectiveness, in which the reader immediately feels part of the history. The authors masterfully combine historical recovery with intimacy and tenderness.
‘Yes, I did it’, by Victoria Bermejo
A metalliterary amusement, an incisive criticism of the world of publishing houses and a game of mirrors in which chance unites two writers: Mónica, a frustrated author, and Natalia, creator of international best-sellers. The first-person chapters of Mónica, who gives us confidences and reflections, fears and obsessions, alternate with those of an omniscient narrator who tells of Natalia’s vicissitudes, adventures, and memories.
A novel dotted with anecdotes, agile, that reads like a thriller (and has something of a thriller), but in which Bermejo’s fine sense of humor stands out, the poetics of his reflections, some fascinating characters and a lacerating critique of the publishing world and creative writing courses. A very funny and very tender short novel, full of color and music about how fate tests you and how sometimes when you choose to lose, you are actually winning. A direct and poignant novel, lively and intelligent, witty and captivating.
‘The Porcelain Soldier’, by Mathias Malzieu
The life of Mainou, father of the author, musician and film director, underwent a radical turn when he was 9 years old. On June 3, 1944, in the middle of World War II, his mother died while she was giving birth to a little sister who never lived. Mainou’s father must return to the front and leaves the little boy with his grandmother and uncles, who live in occupied France.
An exceptional novel, not only because of how it is written: the narrator is Mainou, who addresses his beloved deceased mother in the second person, with the clear language and self-confidence of a child his age. A story full of suspense and drama, a sweet and raw prosein which Malzieu skilfully mixes humor and anger, simplicity and exquisite metaphors, vital impulse and the threat of death.
‘El viejo’, by Guillermo Anguera
A novel that starts from a very surreal premise: Alexis shares an apartment with other twentysomethings. Suddenly, one night, he returns to his room after having gone to look for a soda in the fridge and when he returns to his room he meets an old man weighing 200 kilos. A huge old man in an empire shirt who also doesn’t speak. The old man is actually the catalyst of the plot, the engine of the novel and the author’s excuse to show us how the three protagonists, Alexis and his roommates, react to the strange situation they are facing.
A very funny novel, but it is also a harsh criticism of job insecurity, fleeting and unsatisfactory relationships, life in the 21st century. A daring proposal, brilliant and disturbing, that invokes our most neurotic and terrifying side, but he does it in the best possible way, making you smile.
“The Harlem Rhythm” by Colson Whitehead
One more time, After his two Pulitzer Prizes awarded to ‘The Underground Railroad’ and ‘The Nickel Boys’, Whitehead brings us a brutal new account of racism in African-American society. This time the author has built a police novel, focused on the violence and criminality of Harlem in the sixties. A neighborhood where thugs, gangsters, criminals, corrupt policemen swarm; but also a place full of music, at the rhythm of jazz, but also rock. That is where immigrants from the South arrive who flee the ku klux klan in search of a better life, who join the new generations of African-Americans who do not hesitate to fight, without fear of reprisals, for civil rights.
In ‘The Harlem Rhythm’, Whitehead masterfully draws scenes from another era, he builds complex and very human characters and weaves a captivating plot around Ray Carney, a mobster’s son who fights —unsuccessfully— to be an honest guy. Best of all: it is the first volume of a trilogy in which we will follow Carney for two decades.
‘Journeys through my garden’, by Nicolas Jolivot
LThe best way to celebrate the arrival of spring is to read this gem. An album in which the author invites us, through his texts and precious and detailed drawings, to travel through time without leaving his garden. Going back to the origin of the plot, in 1821, and to the depths of his memory, he tells us the story of that piece of land that houses a true paradise: flowers, trees, insects, birds. He explains and illustrates how it changes over time, with each season. What happens in it and has happened, like when it was the home of the washerwomen.
Jolivot tells and draws what her small garden produces and even shares cooking recipes, mixing it with botany and family memories, and what’s left is a work to read slowly and oftenrecreate with each illustration and feel life at your fingertips.
