Current events completely changed the novel that Brenda Navarro (41 years old, Mexico City) was writing.
The suicide of a minor in Madrid, apparently caused by the school bullying that she suffered at school, caused her pain that she could not forget.
From that was born
Ceniza en la boca
(Sexto Piso, 2022), a novel that addresses aspects such as
bullying
or migration and which featured in the latest Culture and
Babelia
Reading Club .
The author met last week with a group of subscribers to the newspaper, in a meeting that is part of the EL PAÍS + experiences program.
“I am not the same after writing this book,” Navarro confessed during the conversation with readers.
Although the writer clarified that with her novels — she has also published
Empty Houses
(2020) — she does not aspire to activism nor does she believe that books can change the world, she conceded that they modify readers, as well as herself.
49:04
Reading club | 'Ash in the mouth', Brenda Navarro
Ceniza en la boca
tells the coming-of-age journey of a young Mexican woman who is forced to emigrate to Spain.
The story begins with the suicide of her brother and, from this traumatic event, a series of social themes unfold, such as discrimination or class differences, but also family love or identity.
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