Reservoir Bitches

Dahlia de la Cerda (trans. Julia Sanches, Heather Cleary)

‘A book of Biblical proportions contained in 176 pages. A small monument to transgressive, tough, soft, romantic, painful literature. A series of stories that come alive independently, but that also work together, intertwined, creating a world that resembles the capital, but that could also be any centre or periphery in Mexico … Each of these stories hits you right in the eye, in the stomach, close to the kidney, in the groin if you want. While the author beats us up, we revel in pleasure. Laughter. Because the prose is delicate despite everything. Because humour thrives among narco-socialites, contract killers, wannabe high society women, and influencers who worry about how many likes they have on Instagram.’

Gerardo Lima Molina, author of Megaloceros

‘The brutal, fascinating, and truthful stories in Reservoir Bitches describe without self-indulgence the highly complex reality of young women in Mexico.’

Berna González Harbour, El País

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‘This book has the force of an ocean gully: it sucks you in, it drags you through the mud and it cleans you in equal measure.’

Andrea Abreu, author of Panza de burro

A debut linked story collection of gritty, streetwise, and wickedly funny fiction from Mexico.

Life’s a bitch. That’s why you gotta rattle her cage, even if she’s foaming at the mouth.

In the linked stories of Reservoir Bitches, thirteen Mexican women prod the bitch that is Life as they fight, sew, skirt, cheat, cry, and lie their way through their tangled circumstances. From the all-powerful daughter of a cartel boss to the victim of transfemicide, from a houseful of spinster seamstresses to a socialite who supports her politician husband by faking Indigenous roots, these women spit on their own reduction and invent new ways to survive, telling their stories in bold, unapologetic voices. At once social critique and black comedy, Reservoir Bitches is a raucous debut from one of Mexico’s most thrilling new writers.

Gerardo Lima Molina, author of Megaloceros

‘The brutal, fascinating, and truthful stories in Reservoir Bitches describe without self-indulgence the highly complex reality of young women in Mexico.’

Berna González Harbour, El País

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 198mm × 129mm

Extent:176pp

ISBN (13):9781915590435

RRP:£9.99

Pub date:26 Sep 2024

High-res cover:Download Image

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AUTHOR

Dahlia de la Cerda

Dahlia de la Cerda is a Mexican writer and activist. She has a BA in Philosophy and won the Comala Young National Short Story Award for Reservoir Bitches. She is also the author of the essay ‘Feminismo sin cuarto propio’, which is included in the anthology Tsunami 2, and co-founder of the feminist organisation Morras Help Morras. Her short story ‘The Smile’ was included in the first issue of Astra Magazine, and Reservoir Bitches is currently being developed as a series by Amazon Studios and Perro Azul.

TRANSLATORS

Julia Sanches

Julia Sanches translates literature from Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan into English. Born in Brazil, she now lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Heather Cleary

Heather Cleary is an award-winning translator of poetry and prose whose work has been recognised by English PEN, the National Book Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation, among others.

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We publish books that matter — narrative and literary nonfiction on important topics, and the best of local, international, and translated fiction.

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