Bruno Blog

This week, social media has become an ocean filled with fishes swimming. Little fishes looking for Gabriel, the missing boy from Almería. These last few days we’ve been keeping an eye on this story, which, unfortunately has not had the end all of us were wishing for. My heart breaks whenever I think how it must feel to lose a child, I cannot picture it in my mind. There is nothing worse that could possibly happen, and I really do admire his parents, that in this extreme situation have asked for peace, not hate. Kids are life, there is nothing bad in their essence, hence why they should never suffer, they do not deserve it. No one should ever suffer, neither the adults nor the kids. We should be able to live fearlessly, happily, joyfully in a better world. A world we are fully responsible of, and we should teach the new generations to create it always humbly, honestly and far away from violence.

This is why, when reading Empar Fernández’s IRINA, I was able to also feel that “pain”. A pain some kids were exposed from 1937 to 1939 when they had to escape the Spanish Civil War. Many of which were fostered in cold Russia. They had to begin over new, adapt to a new world which was about to change, again, because of the explosion of World War II. They would have to suffer again. They would be exposed, once more, to pain, to suffering, to being alone. They had to overcome whatever they were exposed to, they had no other choice. Irina’s story traps you, hits you, breaks you, you just cannot ignore it. It is a piece of history from an eight years old girl’s perspective, through her eyes. She is aware she has to go on with her life, on her own, besides living in a cruel and unfair world. A world which also grants her a home, a place to stay, although it is not how she would like it to be. Irina is one of those characters which stays in the reader’s mind forever, as Gabriel’s smile, which we will never forget. I wish we could live in an ocean filled of nice little fishes swimming to find happiness, to reach peace. A clear sea in which hate did not exist and union, friendship and the will to build a better world, ruled. As in Irina’s times although some kids were never able to reach the deserved peaceful destiny. IRINA is such an amazing novel. Empar, as always, has been able to smartly build a story. A vibrating story. A story that dives into the deep end.

Today, March the 8th, is International Woman’s day. Many women have not attended their Jobs to pursue and fight for that equality we’ve been raised with, at least my generation. An equality which, to be honest, is more than obvious it doesn’t exist. However Woman’s day, for me, is every single day, because we are born fighters, tight-rope walkers, jugglers, anything to reach the infinite and go beyond. Anything to be good at our jobs, better at home and, obviously, keeping our looks on point. Days should be 48 hours long, and even so, I’d need some more… but somehow I make it work, and I definitely succeed. I must make everything click, and the good thing amongst all of this is to stop and wonder whether you are doing it because you have to or because you want to, that is the key. If you do it because you want to, no comments to make, I’m sure you feel great about it, strong enough and with the energy to reach the infinite. But, if you are doing it just because you have to, perhaps there is the little problem, mistake or, you name it, that creates this permanent dissatisfaction. Have you ever thought about it?

I’m sure women as the main characters of the novels we have presented in our blog, would have had a thought. All, strong, empowering women, who have succeeded, who have reached the top. Mia, in LO QUE SUCEDIÓ CUANDO ME ROMPISTE EL CORAZÓN overcomes though times through her strength. Nía, in CICATRICES DE CHAROL, fights for her ideals, IRINA aims to begin all over again, Amalia, in UN AMOR, preaches for her family and Blanca Luz, in EL COLOR DE LA LUZ, for true love. They are all brave, they are all strong, they struggle, sometimes, but they keep looking forward towards the end of the finishing line, as the majority of women I know, and admire, we celebrate this day every day, doing what we want to do, doing it from the heart, with conviction, with love.

Discovering new talent would be one of the main duties of a literary agent. However, it keeps getting harder and harder since our daily tasks have turned towards a very bureaucratic job which requires plenty of hours and lots of work. This makes having spare time to read what we should read – since what we would like to read, we can’t actually read it- almost impossible, so those new voices which should be listened and deserve to be peacefully read, I just cannot seem to find the right moment to ‘listen’ to them. Those are the voices and letters that keep getting delayed for “later”, and I’m very sure we’ve lost many authors along the way. Authors who really deserved more than a chance. But, we didn’t let Berta Pichel get away with her title CICATRICES DE CHAROL, when she introduced it, we absolutely loved it and we could not stop reading it, and not falling in love with the novel was completely impossible. The title has just been published by Ediciones B.

A novel about love but also about personal overcoming, especially hard during the Spanish Civil in El Bierzo, where the novel is set. I know it might look like another historical novel, but it is not, since the female character, Nia, has the magistral power that makes you become an addict to her, to everything in her. In addition to that, the novel takes place in an unknown yet beautiful part of Spain, which she subtly decorates, giving place to an amazing novel, one of those titles the public does enjoy reading, and one of those we are completely sure will not disappoint anyone. A new voice, a voice which debuts with a novel that deserves a chance because it is the perfect mixture of commercial novel, framed in a historical setting but in which love and personal overcoming make of it something more.. More than a novel, not just collecting many different feelings the reader will completely feel identified with, but leaving them with the best feeling as reading the last page.

Violence is unacceptable. Since I was a kid, I’ve been taught that nothing can be achieved through violence, hence why we’ve always believed in the power of dialogue and this may be the reason why I completely understand lots of the things that are going on right now.

The News are filled with violence, that is a given, but unluckily, Gender Violence is the top topic, it is the news we’ve had to deal with the most. And this is one of the key points in Paz Castelló´s new novel DIECIOCHO MESES Y UN DÍA, awarded with the Letras del Mediterráneo Award this 2018 and published by Umbriel. The plot sets with Sabina, our main character settled in Peñíscola, who witnesses her best friend being murdered by her ex-husband. She gets sick and does not know how to handle something like such a tough subject.

Sabina, after her best friend’s death is not able to leave her apartment, SHE SUFFERS AGOROFOBIA, and her only aim and obsession is to make justice. Paz writes amazingly well, her social networks are followed by 2.300 followers on Twitter and 4.400 on Facebook, and, she is able to combine her good writing with powerful topics, as those she presents in this thriller, in which she is able to make the reader feel the pain, the fear and the madness as if the reader was struggling with it too. It is not simply another novel, since it has the two ingredients a good literary thriller must have. This title could also be referred to as a “Domestic Thriller” since the main character prepares a revenge which will make many tremble as we run out of air, as Sabina does. Breathing gets harder as we go on reading. A perfect balance between a commercial and a literary novel, which deals with one of those topics which are the more worrying in our society. GENDER VIOLENCE. Once again this Alicante’s author nails it, and is making her way through in this Publishing World to the top.

This is the week of love. Hearts are everywhere, information on romantic weekends away filling our mailbox, TV adverts about couples and Valentine’s day. It’s become a tradition. However, LOVE, I believe, must be present on a daily basis, not just this one day in the year, and it’s not just couple love, it is LOVE in general. Love and friends, love and kids, love and those who we love. And I truly believe in the LOVE for oneself, because only when you love yourself, you are able to love the rest.

Hence why I’ve absolutely LOVED Rocío Carmona’s adult debut, LO QUE SUCEDIÓ CUANDO ME ROMPISTE EL CORAZÓN. After her massive success with the young adult titles LA GRAMÁTICA DEL AMOR and EL CORAZÓN DE HANNAH, she has completely captured me with this new title. I’ve adored MIA, our main character, a self-made woman, 34 years old, who has just broken up with Alex, and has to face summer in the city with her heart smashed into a million pieces. To complete this dramatic situation, she loses her job, which increases her sadness, which we’ve all sometime felt. A sadness, she believes, will never fade away. Her world is sinking, but she is able to make decisions in order to raise and shine again, there is only one way, and in order to begin to walk through this way she must heal her broken heart. So, step by step, her adventure to reconstruct her heart begins and she finds herself, like never before. A novel that will make you laugh and cry all at the same time. Inspiring for those who are broken hearted, but also inspiring for those who have once broken someone else’s heart. Ways to love are infinite and we’ve all been through a heartbreak or made a heart-breaking mistake. We’ve used up napkins boxes, spend hours on the phone looking for support in our best friend, eaten all the chocolate available in our fridge or eaten the biggest chocolate ice cream in the freezer. But, at the end, we’ve been able to find what takes us back to what we were, to our best self. Mia runs, sings, makes new friends, visits the museum of the broken hearts and discovers Cat inspired bars. We are able to feel her pain and through it, we can feel the pain we once felt, our friends felt, we all felt. A book with loads of layers, layers we will go thorough to find out how Mia achieves her aim. A brilliant novel, easy to read, about love and the end of it, and about picking up the pieces to reconstruct ourselves and getting together to become stronger.

A novel those readers who have adored MUJERES QUE COMPRAN FLORES or LA MAGIA DE SER SOFIA will completely enjoy. Spring is around the corner and it is full of amazing new titles, write down this one on your list and give it to those you love the most. Let’s make a love chain.