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Elisa facing the sea
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781522898689
Publisher: Createspace
Published: Jan 8 2016
Pages: 182
Weight: 0.60
Height: 0.42 Width: 5.98 Depth: 9.02
Language: English
*****
Totally recommended. An incredible book, full of feelings and emotions, a story that stays in your mind for a long time. Everyone should read this book to understand the pain of homophobia, intolerance and sexist violence.
This is the English translation of Garcia's 2013 novel 'Elisa Frente al Mar', and I am thrilled that the work is now available to a wider audience as a result because this book is a truly wonderful piece of story writing that deserves to be read by as many people as possible. The story centers around three women. Nuria narrates the tale, in the first person. She is forty-three, an out lesbian living in an unnamed small town in Spain. However, she hasn't always been so proudly out, and that is one of the main themes of the story. Valeria is Nuria's best friend, and they have known each other since school. Valeria is wild, outspoken and confident, all things that Nuria is not. Elisa is the girl that Nuria falls in love with at the tender age of fourteen, a love she believes has no possibility on earth of being reciprocated, until one momentous day when they are both eighteen. The story of the three women's lives is told in a series of flashbacks woven into the story of now. We start with Elisa and Nuria meeting again after eighteen years' separation. At first, we don't know why they have remained so distant from each other all this time, but gradually, through the flashbacks, the author reveals their story to us. It's a familiar one-two young woman find each other in love, but the pressures (real or perceived) of society's inability to accept their relationship conspire to rip them apart. But while the story is somewhat familiar, the way it is written is not. This is extraordinarily beautiful writing. The words soar off the pages and wrap themselves in your mind until you are breathless with Garcia's imagery and emotions. And yes, the translation is a little bumpy in places, but for me that only added to the charm of the prose. The story is pure lesbian angst, and in places it is truly heartbreaking, but it is absolutely riveting. I read this in one sitting, breathlessly turning the pages to delve deeper into the pain of both Nuria and Elisa, to learn how they've progressed to where they are now, and to hear about the love and desire they have for each other that has spanned decades. Alongside the love story is the story of Valeria, and her troubled home life. In some books this could be seen as a distraction from the main story, but Valeria's life and agonies have also played a significant role in shaping Nuria into the woman she is today. As Nuria struggles to come to terms with how her personality has been influenced by both Elisa and Valeria, we come to understand all that she has denied herself over the years. It's a painful journey she has undertaken, and the conclusion of the book is all the more satisfying as a result. This is one of the best lesbian novels I have read in a very long time, and I hope it gets the attention it deserves now that it can be enjoyed by so many more readers.
Curve Magazine
You have to read this book. You just have to. It is gorgeous, heart-wrenching, poetic, romantic... I could go on. Just read it. That's all I'm saying.
A.L. Bro
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