AUTHOR: Betina González
PUBLISHER: Tusquets
GENRE: Adult/Young Adult
READER’S NAME: Maria del Carmen Rivero
DATE: June 28th, 2013
The novel starts out as a cry for help from Lopez (the narrator and how the author calls her) who is in a dreaded all girls Catholic school where she is not part of the in crowd. While the opening line of the book is a warning about the histrionics of high school drama: : Me voy a matar”uttered by Felisa, the newcomer and protagonist of the novel, Lopez is the one in need of salvation, and she finds it in the eccentric and jet setter Felisa Wilmer who lands in the school to give Lopez and the reader an intriguing and eccentric look at this coming of this age novel.
The author is also a smart observer of the myths surrounding all girls school from outside and also from inside, the schools has its own myths and lore interwoven masterfully in the novel to render it a Gothic style with cinematic tones. It is also mocks all the sexual myths regarding Catholic schools from sexual repression to subtle lesbianism. While it is not a political novel, the author also includes backdrops of Argentina during the military regime and its adverse consequences on young people The Catholic school is the micro world the author chooses to explore many subjects: family shame and secrets, sexuality, rebellion, class differences, and ultimately death.
Maria De la Cruz Lopez, an outcast is soon attracted to Felisa Wimer, the newcomer and the ultimate outcast. Felisa is an outcast but by choice not by the others girls wishes, and this gives her a bit of power over the popular girls, especially Marisol -the model student. Felisa arrives to her native Argentina after the death of her mother in an accident. We later understand how important this event is in Felisa's development. She speaks English well just arriving from London, and smokes without any embarrassment. Little by Little Lopez, who is desperately seeking some excitement and a reason for her existence discovers Felisa's bizarre family past that have rendered her bit eccentric and occasionally suicidal. . The other important subtext is the somewhat demise of Marisol -the rich girl whose family tries to control everything. At the end, the two outcasts and the model student are all part of the same family secret and b after the disappearance of a young girl in town transform this novel into a mini detective story too.
While the book deals with subjects that are apparently sordid, the author is able to make the book amenable to readers with the use of irony, sense of humor and overall good writing. The title refers more to the “possession”that others have over these girls and not that they are actually possessed because the novel never leaves the realm of the rational, except in the backdrop of legends of saints and myths surrounding the school's past.
The market for this novel is probably for young women and its universal themes of high school, social clicks and the back drop of a Catholic school, with its lyricism and cultural history will make it approachable to other languages. It is also part of the coming of age genre but a with a twist since it deals mainly with girls and interwoven with a family mystery and disappearance. The writer is very good how she handles the many levels of this novel and the surprise ending regarding are sure to be liked by readers. The language is devoid of regionalism so translation should be fairly easy. It almost seems as a movie script with his many visual input and the Gothic overtones.
The author has won awards for her previous works, and this novel has also won the Tusquets award. The cover is a a real winner too.
