Postcards from Spain - more summer holiday reading
We have touched down in another part of Europe to continue our summer holiday travels. Spain, dramatic coastlines, vivacious dancing and oversized glasses of sangria served next to speckled iron pans of seafood. Whether you are heading to Barcelona or Valencia, or bookmarking air bnbs wistfully whilst at your desk, these books might evoke some Spanish sunshine for you.
A lot of the fiction translated from the Spanish heralds from Central and South America, which makes sense given their extensive literary history. However, there are some brilliant writers emerging across Spain that we can hope will reach the desks of UK publishing houses soon. Usually these lists end with the wild card, but most of these could be construed as such. For now, here is a mix of translated works and stories tangentially connected to the country.
The Odyssey / Lara Williams
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Most simply put, this is a story of a cult on a cruise ship. Williams’ previous novel - Supper Club - was notable for its outlandish membership dedicated to food feasting, The Odyssey’s look at cultish clubs takes on a specific tech startup gone wrong kind of tone. Ingrid is leaving behind heartache on land to join the ranks of a new ship - a different kind of holiday job.
The ship’s captain is a new age guru figure with particular ideas about staff loyalty. As her life on board becomes increasingly bizarre, she escapes the claustrophobia to ports across the world, including Spain, to drown herself discontent in the local drinks. More of a capitalist cautionary tale than a poolside doozy, but a page turner nonetheless.
Permafrost / Eva Baltasar
An infamous Catalonian poet, Baltasar pens her first fiction, a short slim and queer character study. Permafrost predates this year’s trend for middle aged, indecisive narrators on missions to self sabotage. The unnamed narrator is confused by straight women, sick of drudgery, heteronormativity and now, enamoured by good sex. Another travelling story, the tight narrative moves from Scotland to Belgium and back to Spanish sheets.
This sumptuous story of desire is jarred by the protagonist’s suicidality. Written with raw nerve, it is an exposition of two emotions living at once, a story of humanness.
Leaving The Atocha Station / Ben Lerner
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Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
In true Lerner fashion, the central character of Leaving The Atocha Station is pretentious and mostly intolerable. Set in contemporary Madrid, an American poet visiting for a prestigious residency is seeking authenticity in his research. Autoficitious, directionless, certainly cerebral, Leaving Atocha Station is a somewhat divisive read. If you are at all fed up with emotionally unavailable men who refuse to feel their feelings, fictional or not, this perhaps isn’t for you.
The Wonders / Elena Medel, Translated by Lizzie Davis and Thomas Bunstead
A story of familial feminist ties, pulling on the ever prescient personal as the political, The Wonders is a lyrical novel spanning decades. It begins with the fall of Franco’s dictatorship and takes us to present day cosmopolitan fights for gender equality. Set between Madrid and rural Spain, Medel tackles class struggle and historical hangovers of the country’s political unrest, creating a story of care vs carelessness, through a distinctively female lens.
Streets of Thieves / Mathias Enard, Translated by Charlotte Mandell
Technically translated from the French, and set across two continents, this may not be an obvious choice for a Spanish read. However, the streets of Barcelona make up a reasonable portion of Street of Thieves. Enard’s latest novel is a somewhat well trodden part, two young men looking to emigrate to pastures new, in search of something ‘better’.
Beginning in Tangier, Morocco, the novel’s ambitious scope unpicks the Arab Spring, Islamic fundamentalism and a deep desire for connection. Consider this a high brow thriller, a compulsive story littered with political discourse and contentious conversations around religion and the state of contemporary Spain.
The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant / Pablo Tusset, Translated by Kristina Cordero
Published originally in Spanish in 2001 and perhaps the hardest book on this list to obtain, but by highlighting here, hopefully the second hand bookish gods will shine on your local store or Ebay listings.
The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant surely wins for most bizarre title, and likely most bizarre story too. Tusset’s bestselling novel is a story of a black sheep, a son expected to inherit the family’s financial empire, ill equipped to act as the grown up required of him. A boisterous blend of classic mystery and messy masculine escapades, Tusset creates a vivid picture of slackers resting on their family’s old money laurels.
