¡Feliz año nuevo! This post is all about books I hope to check out in 2015, and particularly books related to the experiences of individuals in Spain and Latin America….
1. To begin, Jardín, written by Chilean author Pablo Simonetti, tells the story of three siblings’ difficult decision to move their mother out of the family home where she has lived for many years…and especially away from the garden that she loves. It is apparently told through different perspectives, and sounds both beautiful and intriguing. Video here.
2. I’m curious to read Survival Songs: Conchita Piquer’s ‘Coplas’ and Franco’s Regime on Terror, new from University of Toronto Press and written by Stephanie Sieburth. Music and its influence on those surviving Franco’s oppressive regime following the Spanish Civil War.
2. A re-published compilation of letters from Maryse Holder to her best friend and publisher, Edith Jones Rubin. Give Sorrow Words from Holder & Jones Publishers. The book website sums up: “In 1976, Maryse Holder traveled to Mexico to pursue a life of sexual exploration. She wrote a series of letters describing her experiences…Following Holder’s brutal murder in Mexico at the age of 36, these letters became the basis for the book Give Sorrow Words: Maryse Holder’s Letters from Mexico. This long-forgotten masterpiece of feminist sexuality is timelier than ever, foreshadowing the blunt talk about a women’s erotic life embodied by Lena Dunham and others.”
4. Cortázar de la A a la Z is a collection of memorabilia from Julio Cortázar’s life and work, published by Alfaguara. Hoping to read this and then move on to Hopscotch and Rayuela.
Happy reading,
-A
P.S.: For a peek into one of my favorite books, La tregua, read this!
Alison Trujillo Translations 