Overview

A punk revival of Medea as a Mexican anti-angel of birth and death, from the International Booker Prize-nominated author of Reservoir Bitches. In Northern Mexico, Paulina, Perla, Antonia, Reina, and Jordan are striving to survive the barrio - hustling on the edge of a cartel-run economy, nursing the wounds made normal in a world that eats its own. Hovering over their trials is a spirit with gothic flair, dressed in black and crowned with braids- Medea, a mythic mother of the Chihuahuan desert, ancient as the Aztecs but never too old to be petty. From aiding a trophy girlfriend's abortion, to accompanying a mother in her search for her lost child in the desert, to embracing those taken too soon in the narco's brutal proxy wars, Medea fights for justice for her chosen mortals - her divine wrath the only power that could rival the corrupt, violent web spun by the cartel, the government, and the military. Dahlia de la Cerda's magnetic prose draws readers right into the heart of that web - and links all our fates to the missions of Medea, equal parts midwife and gravedigger, a femme fatale god in a femicidal world. 'Only a novel this inventive and insane could help me understand the complexities of modern Mexico and capture every horror of womanhood. Propulsive and poetic. As sick as it is sexy and as feral as it is tender. I couldn't put it down.' -Melissa Lozada-Oliva, author of Candelaria 'One of the most promising voices in recent Mexican literature.' -Latin American Literature Today Praise for Reservoir Bitches- 'Reservoir Bitches is a blisteringly urgent collection of interconnected stories about contemporary Mexican women. It absolutely bangs from the first page to the last. It's extremely funny but deadly serious and we loved the energy and flair of the dual translators' approach. It packs an enormous political and linguistic punch but is also subtle, revelatory and moving about the ways in which these women hustle, innovate, survive or don't, in a world of labyrinthine dangers. This book weaves the riotous testimony of the living and the dead to create an expletive-rich feminist blast of Mexican literature.' -Judges' comments from the 2025 International Booker Prize

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9781761382161

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Dahlia de la Cerda (Author) Dahlia de la Cerda is a writer and activist based in Aguascalientes, Mexico. She is the author of Reservoir Bitches, which was longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize. Its Spanish original, Perras de Reserva, won the 2019 Premio Nacional de Cuento Joven Comala. De la Cerda is also the cofounder of the feminist organisation Morras Help Morras. Julia Sanches (Translator) Julia Sanches translates literature from Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan into English. Born in Brazil, she now lives in Providence, Rhode Island. Heather Cleary (Translator) 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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