The release date for the English version of 'Still Born' by
Guadalupe Nettel is Aug 2023. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
The 2023 International Booker Prize longlist is out!
Still Born, written by "one of the leading lights in contemporary Latin American literature," Valeria Luiselli (author of Lost Children Archive), is a fascinating book about motherhood, creativity, and the ability of friendship and community to make caring for others easier. It is recommended reading for fans of Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti.
Neither Alina nor Laura, two self-reliant, dedicated professionals in their mid-thirties, had planned their futures with a family in mind. Laura has decided to get her tubes tied since she is adamant about avoiding becoming pregnant. However, upon disclosing this to her friend, she finds out that Alina has taken the opposite stance and is getting ready to have a family of her own.
The two women's lives are rocked by Alina's pregnancy, which first causes them to go apart before bringing them astonishingly close. After a diagnostic that indicated the opposite outcome, Alina's daughter survives delivery, and Laura develops an attachment to her neighbor's boy, both women are forced to face the complexity of their own emotions and wants as well as the needs of others who rely on them.
Guadalupe Nettel examines parental ambivalence with a surgeon's touch in writing that is both compelling and perceptive, deftly exposing the inconsistencies that comprise women's lived experiences.