2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS TRANSLATED LITERATURE FINALIST
In Colombia's brutal jungle, childless Damaris develops an intense and
ultimately doomed relationship with an orphaned puppy.
"The magic of this sparse novel is its ability to talk about many
things, all of them important, while seemingly talking about something
else entirely. What are those things? Violence, loneliness, resilience,
cruelty. Quintana works wonders with her disillusioned, no-nonsense,
powerful prose." Juan Gabriel Vásquez, author of The Sound of
Things Falling
"The Bitch is a novel of true violence. Artist that she is, Pilar
Quintana uncovers wounds we didn't know we had, shows us their beauty,
and then throws a handful of salt into them." Yuri Herrera, author
of
Signs Preceding the End of the World
Colombia's Pacific coast, where everyday life entails warding off the
brutal forces of nature. In this constant struggle, nothing is taken for
granted. Damaris lives with her fisherman husband in a shack on a bluff
overlooking the sea. Childless and at that age "when women dry up," as
her uncle puts it, she is eager to adopt an orphaned puppy. But this act
may bring more than just affection into her home. The Bitch is written
in a prose as terse as the villagers, with storms―both meteorological
and emotional―lurking around each corner. Beauty and dread live side by
side in this poignant exploration of the many meanings of motherhood and
love.
