The Marias

A few minutes later a young man rushed in and sat down nearby. Estela felt her agitation and the altered rhythm of her breathing. On the screen, the vampire stalked the girl in a sensual and dramatic way, his shadow hovering over the woman’s white skin as she closed her eyes feeling the pleasure of blood, death, and possession. Estela knew that the man was touching himself, giving himself the pleasure that to her was forbidden and that was now just a few feet away. The tremor reached her gently and smoothly and altered the rhythm of her breathing as much as that of the stranger, who kept his eyes fixed on the actress’s neck, breaking backwards, moaning and falling languidly into the vampire’s arms.

Mariana has had nine children in the Chilean town of Nocedales, although two of them she now visits in the cemetery. Her only son died when he was two years old and Soledad died when she was seventeen for growing her hair too long. Mariana would have preferred not to give birth so often, but her husband Vicente’s insatiable procrastination made it impossible for her to do as she wished. Despite her husband’s determination to ruin the family business, Mariana uses her admirable ingenuity to raise her seven daughters, who will eventually form a large family. But when Vicente decides to seek new opportunities in Spain, his country of origin, the family will be divided by the Atlantic Ocean, and their destiny will be forever changed by the outbreak of war.
With stark realism, The Marias follows the tradition of family sagas, tracing generations from the beginning of the 20th century to an indeterminate present, in a prolific game of hope, disillusionment and death.

Key points

• Stories of women we all know because they are part of the recent past.
• It invites us to reflect on the discrimination that women have suffered, but in a subtle, non-vindictive way.
• Written with great ease and intensity.
• An outstanding social portrait profiled through the words and actions of the women who are the protagonists.

Beatriz García-Huidobro

1997 – Finalist in Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Award, FIL Guadalajara