Bruno Blog

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.

We are celebrating Halloween, a festivity we don’t tend to celebrate here but that has gained importance and has deeply established here with the American ‘‘trick or treat’’ tradition. November the 1^st is the Day of the Death, in Spain it is ‘el  Día de Todos los Santos’, day in which many families visit their death relatives and friends in the cemeteries. It’s a sad festivity surrounded by terror because of the halloweeny tradition, but that has never called my attention. It makes me sad to think about those who are not here anymore, but I must admit that the magic and witchcraft that November the 1^st hides, does call my attention. That is the reason why I cannot stop suggesting the book MANUAL DE MAGIA MODERNA by KEYLAH MISSEN. A book that the author, reiki master, physiotherapist and knowledgeable of the magical arts since childhood, has created a simple and easy to manage manual, though to initiate the reader on the basic esoteric  tools, from reiki to tarot, the pendulum, numerology and many others. With it we learn how to attract beneficial spirits, how to clean our house by using the stones, how to create a favorable environment for our wishes through the magic candles and even how to get in contact with our totemic spirit. We will also find the keys to create our own magic spells and magical tools, such as pendulums and wands; prosperity rituals, of protection and love; tips on how to improve your health and on how to boost beauty. A passionate introduction on magical spells and esoteric techniques to experiment power and the joy of magic day to day.

We know through historic tradition that women who knew how to heal were called witches, and that there was a woman on TV who only by moving her nose helped anyone she bumped into. So if there exist good witches and in this manual rites are positive, aiming to strengthen the good ideals it is, therefore, a present for a night like yesterday’s to invoke that calm, justice, honesty and peace rule the world. Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Manhattan has again touched our hearts. Violence and crispation don’t bring anything other than discomfort, so maybe a magic manual to combat all of this is necessary. Maybe we don’t have the exact potion yet, but with everyone’s eagerness to believe it we are taking a massive step. Do we try?

Reading and writing are two things that seem connected, although they don´t have to be. However, in my own life, they have always been linked because reading was an important part of my childhood, and now it´s part of my life not only as a hobby, but also as my job.  What more could you ask for? And writing is another of my hidden sides, because I actually love to write, but for myself, as a release. WRITING is difficult, it´s an art, but we can all keep little notebooks or diaries. It is a way of capturing the feelings, the emotions, and all the things that, for some reason, affected us inside.

For this reason, I fell in love with Ángeles Doñate´s book, EL ALMA DE LA RADIO (The Soul of the Radio), which Ediciones Urano/Umbriel have just published. It´s a tribute to a radio program that was huge in Spain, which the Spanish readers will recognize, but it could be applicable to any country. There is nostalgia in this intimate, amazingly well-written novel, which tells the story of a radio presenter who replies to love letters on air, as well as the stories of some of her listeners, who cross paths by falling in and out of love, by being poorly treated, or by feeling lonely in the end-of-Francoism Barcelona, when democracy was emerging. When Aurore becomes the new voice of the most-listened radio program, she has a big responsibility. On one hand, she must prevent Elisa – a seventeen-year-old girl who announced she was going to take her own life – to kill herself. On the other hand, she must fill the lives of solitary people like German, who listens to the show daily. But what nobody knows is that Aurora is as unhappy as many of her listeners, and that she´s broken-hearted too. One day, as she wonders what happens with the letters which don´t make it to her show, she discovers the studio burns them. Many of them show an unpleasant reality, full of domestic violence and political repression which the studio doesn´t want to see associated with the program, in order not to lose listeners. Outraged, Aurora takes home as many letters as possible to reply to them on her free time. She wants to help those who need it, no matter what is going on, and whether or not the big shots managing the audience like it. After many years of emotional void, she finds a meaning to her life, which is just listening to others.

With this novel, Ángeles Doñate demonstrates again how much of a great writer she is and how well she knows how to touch our heart. She did so in her first book, EL INVIERNO QUE TOMAMOS CARTAS EN EL ASUNTO (The Winter When We Decided to Act), which has been translated into 8 languages and has been bringing us a lot of joy. Two years after publication, we keep selling it across the world because it is about complicity, honestly and love. In Spain, the pocket edition, published by Ediciones B, is still available and I can´t recommend it enough. It reminds me of the movie Pay It Forward, which I loved. It has become one of my favorite novels, and I feel proud to represent it. I know that we, readers, receive this book with our arms open, and all we can do is to say “Thank you, Ángeles.”