THE WAKE
Margo Glantz
Translated from the Spanish by Andrew Hurley
Winner of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, 2003.
"What do I feel?" asks the narrator, Nora García, as she goes back to a Mexican village she has not visited in years to attend the funeral of her ex-husband, a famous pianist who has died of a massive heart attack. This deeply moving novel is the unspoken answer to Nora's self-questioning. "The heart has reasons that reason knows nothing of," Pascal said, and this aphorism of knowing and not knowing is at the core of the novel. Employing motifs of "the heart," modes of music from the tango to Bach, and allusions to poetry, the text is a rich amalgam that reveals a life lived deep within the culture of the late twentieth century.
Like her ex-husband, Nora is a musician, a cellist, and so it is fitting that her novel takes the form of a canon and fugue: phrases circle and repeat, variations are introduced, motifs come and go and intermingle, reflecting a paralysis of the grieving.
One of the most prolific and respected authors of Mexico, Margo Glantz is not only a distinguished award-winning novelist, but also renowned as a lecturer, critic, journalist, and translator. She teaches literature at the National University of Mexico and has been a resident writer and scholar at various universities in the United States, including Yale, Harvard, and Princeton universities. Read our review of this book.
Curbstone Press, paperback, 9781931896238
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INFINITY IN THE PALM OF HER HAND: A NOVEL OF ADAM AND EVE
Gioconda Belli
Translated from the Spanish by Sayers Peden
Winner of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, 2008.
Prepare to enter a fascinating, primitive universe that goes back to the very beginning, to the story upon which Western civilization is based. Poetry and mystery go hand in hand in this transcendent novel about mankind, as never before imagined. Join Adam and Eve as they discover the world for themselves, feel their confusion and panic when they face punishment, and observe in awe as they experience the power to give life and, eventually, the ability to take it away to survive.
From internationally acclaimed poet and author Gioconda Belli comes a beguiling and soulfully rewarding novel—a parable that captures our own time and our own uncertain future.
Gioconda Belli's poetry and fiction have been published in many languages. Her first novel, The Inhabited Woman, was an international bestseller; her collection of poems, Linea de fuego, won the prestigious Casa de las Americas Prize. She lives in Santa Monica, California, and Managua, Nicaragua. Read our review of this book.
Harper, paperback, 9780061673658
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HEAVEN OF DRUMS
Ana Gloria Moya
Translated from the Spanish by W. Nick Hill
Winner of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, 2002.
This story of love and revolution takes place during the Argentine struggle for independence and focuses on the character of the national hero, Manuel Belgrano. However, Belgrano's story is told through the voices of the real heroes of the novel—María Kumbá, a mulatto healer-priestess, fighter, and nurse to the common soldiers; and Gregorio Rivas, mestizo son of a well-to-do Spanish businessman.
Heaven of Drums is filled with political and personal intrigue. At the core of the novel is the issue of racial discrimination. Belgrano is blinded to the love Mar&iacoute;a has for him and the good counsel she has to offer because of his contempt for blacks. His open contempt for Rivas as a mestizo leads to his death. Rivas becomes María's lover but is always haunted by María's evident adoration of Belgrano. The manner in which the love-hate triangle plays out is filled with surprises and cuts to the heart of Argentina's troubled identity.
Ana Gloria Moya was born in 1954 in Tucuman, Argentina. She has published three works of fiction that have won a number of awards in her native country. She is currently a lawyer in the Province of Salta, Argentina. Read our review of this book.
Curbstone Press, paperback, 978-1931896252
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NO ONE WILL SEE ME CRY
Cristina Rivera-Garza
Translated from the Spanish
Winner of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, 2001.
Joaquin Buitrago, a photographer in the Castaneda Insane Asylum, believes a patient is a prostitute he knew years earlier. His obsession in confirming Matilde's identity leads him to explore the clinics records, and her tragic history. He discovers that she was a peasant adopted by a doctor uncle. She led a calm life until Castulo, a young revolutionary chased by the authorities, finds shelter in her home. Matilde's eyes are opened to the social upheaval will lead her to break with her uncle and hide out with Diamantina Vicari. Diamantina's death devastates Matilde so much that she wanders about, completely lost, doing all kinds of jobs, including prostitution. As the photographer discovers more details, he becomes convinced that he and Matilde should live together. Ultimately, as they face defeat in a repressive society, they search to establish in the rubble an uncertain future that will somehow restore their freedom.
Born in Mexico, Cristina Rivera-Garza is now Professor of History at San Diego State University. Her collection of short stories, La guerra no importa (The War Doesn't Matter) won the National Prize in Mexico in 1987. Her first novel, Desconocer (Forgetting) was a finalist for the Juan Rulfo Prize in 1994. Read our review of this book.
Curbstone Press, paperback, 9781880684917
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