On monday they will love us

Author: Najat El Hachmi From the reader report by: Peter Bush

As a novelist Najat El Hachmi tackles complex, controversial themes in language that is at once accessible and striking, eschewing rhetorical artifice and grandiloquent phrasing. This novel takes the form of a long inner monologue written in the second person, in which the heroine talks to her absent friend.

It is a novel that deals with the difficulties faced by adolescent girls in the rigid framework of a Muslim culture dominated by fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran. Written in a direct, but highly literary language, this novel brings original insights to contemporary dilemmas of great interest to English-language readers.

PUBLISHED IN NEW SPANISH BOOKS UK

MB AGENCIA LITERARIA

Title ON MONDAY THEY WILL LOVE US EL LUNES NOS QUERRÁN

Author Najat El Hachmi Genre Literature Year of publication 2021 Number of editions 1

Pages 299 ISBN 978-84-23359-07-3 Language Spanish Spanish retail price 20.90 €

Author’s biography: Najat El Hachmi was born in Beni Sidel (Morocco) in 1979. At the age of eight she moved to the city of Vic (Barcelona) and grew up there. She studied Arabic at the University of Barcelona, then worked as a cultural mediator and with refugees before becoming a full-time writer. She is the author of acclaimed novels such as El último patriarca (The Last Patriarch, Planeta 2008, Ramon LLull prize, Prix Ulysse) La hija extranjera (Edicions 62 - Destino, 2015 Ciutat de Barcelona prize and Saint Joan fiction prize) and Madre de leche y miel (Milk and Honey Mother, Edicions 62 - Destino, 2008). In 2019 she published the feminist manifesto, Siempre han hablado por nosotras (They have always Spoken for Us, which was had a considerable impact. Currently she writes for El País. Her new novel, On Monday they will Love Us (Destino 2021) won the prestigious Premio Nadal.

Synopsis: On Monday They Will Love Us is the story of a young woman of 17 seeking the freedom to discover what will make her happy. But the conditions for that are complicated. She lives in an oppressive environment and to leave it would mean paying too high a price. Everything begins on the day when she meets a girl whose parents are able to live within their culture, free of community restraints, and that represents everything she longs for. Her new friend faces the first challenges which life presents her as a woman with vitality, optimism and determination which will inspire her and prompt her to follow in this friend’s steps. An exciting and revealing story about the importance of women being the protagonists in their own lives even if that means facing obstacles related to gender, social class or origin. This is the story of the difficult path towards freedom.

Publisher who has published: Destino

Publisher: MB Agencia Literaria Since its establishment in 1997, MB Agencia Literaria has represented a select list of writers in Spanish and Catalan to the whole world. It also handles the rights for a prominent group of international agencies and publishers, for Brazil, Portugal and the Spanish-language market.

Publishing rights available from: MB Agencia Literaria - CIF B61456125 Ronda Sant Pere 62, 1º-2ª, Barcelona, Barcelona www.mbagencialiteraria.es Contact: Txell Torrent [txell@mbagencialiteraria.es] [rights@mbagencialiteraria.es] Phone: (+34) 932 659 064

Prizes and reviews: 2021 Premio Nadal.

Comments:The author, already translated into several languages, presents in this prize-winning novel the story of a powerful friendship between two young women who live on the margin of a margin.