The Sadness of Shadows
Lola Ancira’s third short story collection, and the first to be translated into English, gives voice to those who have been marginalised and condemned to live life in the shadows of lunacy, nostalgia, loss and desperation. The protagonists, defeated by life itself, find refuge in abandonment, in forgotten premises, in dejection and in the memory of what they once had.
From a mother suffering from the loss of her first and only child, to failed revolutionaries and women locked away for ‘non-conformity’, this collection explores the debilitating power of the state, of society and even of the family as it is exercised over the individual.
The psychiatric hospital ‘La Castañeda’, the most notorious mental health facility in Mexican history, and the prison ‘The Palace of Lecumberri’, the most notorious penal institution in Mexican history, are the spaces that ultimately hold these protagonists’ destinies and where these twelve stories are set. Juana Adcock’s faithful and shockingly evocative translation lets us enter worlds that, though they no longer exist, continue to live on and cast their shadows upon the modern world.
‘A masterful interweaving of characters, psychologies and loss.’ – Alicia Maya Mares
‘This book is a literary showcase that combines narrative talent with rigorous historical documentation; a precise and monumental work that navigates the abysses of madness, crime, tragedy and the drama of humankind.’ – Ariel Alejo