With an open heart

BOOK REVIEW

WITH AN OPEN HEART

Author: Elvira Lindo From the reader report by: Anette Lang-Coiro

By A corazón abierto the author, who is celebrated for her children’s literature, presents an affectionate and sometimes humorous exploration of the life of her parents. Technically skilfully she succeeds with presenting a portrait of an entire generation, and many German readers may be supposed to identify parallels to their own parents. […]

Still long after their death, the author is preoccupied with the characters of her parents whom she repeatedly attempts to approach, in A corazón abierto, from different angles, by way of different pledges and reflections. […]

Whereas in the continuous text the author hardly ever moves away from the repertoire of the essay, she makes use of different kinds of text to be able to consolidate or repeat things which have already been said. Precisely the repetition provides the text with an almost musical level and sometimes resembles the chorus of a song. […]

Also the prose poems, which sometimes resemble the choir of Greek tragedy, provide A corazón abierto with a theatrical touch. […]

Although some things remain sketchy, whereas other scenes are somewhat strained, on the other hand, still this text is a work which knows how to combine different narration techniques and language styles, thus producing an almost musical final result.

Topically, by choosing the generation of her parents, certainly the author hit a universal subject: the way in which the traumas of the post-war period left their marks, obvious to anybody, on the biographies of the older generation, this may be supposed to be an accessible topic also in Germany.

PUBLISHED IN NEW SPANISH BOOKS DE

PLANETA EDITORIAL

Title WITH AN OPEN HEART A CORAZÓN ABIERTO

Author Elvira Lindo Genre Literature Pages 384

ISBN 978-84-32236-36-5 Year of publication 2020 Language Spanish Spanish retail price 20.90 €

Author’s biography: Elvira Lindo (Cádiz, 1962) studied journalism and in 1981 began working at Radio Nacional de España, where she worked as a script writer, announcer, commentator and presenter. The character of Manolito Gafotas first appeared in radio scripts, then, in 1994, in the first book of what would be a series, enjoying enormous success. Her work includes the novels El otro barrio (The Other Neighbourhood), Algo más inesperado que la muerte (Something more Unexpected than Death), adapted for theatre, Lo que me queda por vivir (The Time I have Left to Live), Lugares que no quiero compartir con nadie (Places I Don’t Want to Share with Anyone), Noches sin dormir (Sleepless Nights), A corazón abierto (With an Open Heart), etc. In 1998 she was awarded the National Prize for Children’s and Youth Literature, and in 2005 she received the Biblioteca Breve prize for the novel Una palabra tuya (A Word from You) Synopsis: Inspired by an episode that took place in Madrid in 1939, the narrator of this story recounts the passionate and turbulent relationship of her parents, and how her father’s overbearing personality and her mother’s weak heart set the tone for the whole family. With an Open Heart is a novel that depicts our country during a century of great change and pays tribute to a generation, the ones who remained in Spain in the immediate postwar period and who, without complaints or regrets, focused on survival. Employing the empathetic and curious gaze of a great observer, one who knows how to transform every flash of memory into fiction, Elvira Lindo makes her parents into literary characters so as to approach them with freedom, lucidity and wisdom.

Publisher: Editorial Planeta Editorial Planeta was founded in 1945 and has grown into the mighty Planeta group. Of Spain’s most prestigious publishing houses it has the greatest influence in the Spanish-speaking world. Every year it awards the Planeta Prize, the best known Spanish literary prize, along with other prominent accolades.

Publishing rights available from: Editorial Planeta - CIF A08186249 Diagonal 662-664, Barcelona, Barcelona www.planetadelibros.com Contact: Pilar Lafuente [plafuente@planeta.es] [foreignrights@planeta.es] Phone: (+34) 934 928 244

Countries where the rights have been sold: Pre-empt to Ugo Guanda (Italy)