El libro nos sitúa en la contienda entre Rusia y Georgia, que de alguna manera anticipó la actual en Ucrania. E, igualmente en que las dos novelas anteriores, su personaje principal es una mujer, Eka, que tuvo que dejar su pueblo, ubicado en la frontera entre Europa y Asia occidental, a causa de la guerra. En su infancia vivió un terrible suceso que la marcaría para siempre y que, aunque transcurridos muchos años y quiere olvidar el pasado, la ha convertido en una personalidad tan violenta como las que rechaza.
Con capítulos breves y un estilo conciso que a veces es como un latigazo, Cristina Cerrada denuncia el horror que se perpetra en nombre de la patria y nos vuelve a presentar una dura historia donde se pone de manifiesto que las consecuencias de las guerras nunca terminan.
Es una historia dura, pero, en el fondo, hay un cierto optimismo reflejado en la forma de ser de Eka. A pesar de todo lo que le ha pasado, trata de recuperarse y hacer realidad su sueño: irse a Canadá, concretamente a la zona de Quebec, por eso se pone a estudiar francés. ¿Conseguirá hacer realidad su sueño? Para averiguarlo hay que leer esta novela. Este sueño de Eka es como una especie de salvavidas para ella. Algo a lo que se aferra. Lo que le rodea no es nada agradable: odio, violencia, xenofobia, dureza, trastornos…
Los personajes de Cristina Cerrada tienen una fuerte carga psicológica. Son personajes que describe poco físicamente, la descripción es más bien interna. Por eso, todos sus personajes son claves en el desarrollo de la historia y son los que aportan dicha calidad a su novela.
El personaje de Eka no pasa desapercibido para el lector. Sorprende su capacidad de reponerse.
Es pequeña. Un día se da cuenta de que otros niños tienen madre y ella no. Cuando uno de esos niños se cae, una mujer viene a ponerlo de pie. Echa de menos una madre, una mujer que la levante del suelo cuando se cae. La mujer con quien su padre volvió a casarse dice que la llame mamá.
—Tu madre era mi hermana —dice—, y puesto que no la conociste es como si lo fuera yo.
Eka no la llama nunca mamá.
Su madre fue secuestrada para casarse. Fue su padre quien la secuestró. Era un hombre tímido acostumbrado a tratar con ovejas, caballos y vacas, pero no con mujeres. No era un criminal. De no haber secuestrado a su esposa no se habría llegado a casar nunca.
Secuestrar mujeres es una tradición en su país. Allí esas cosas no se esconden, al menos no por entonces. Más tarde será distinto.
Es pequeña. Un día se da cuenta de que otros niños tienen madre y ella no. Cuando uno de esos niños se cae, una mujer viene a ponerlo de pie. Echa de menos una madre, una mujer que la levante del suelo cuando se cae.
La mujer con quien su padre se casó cuando vinieron a vivir a Canadá dice que la llame mamá.
—Tu madre murió —dice—. Y puesto que no la conociste, es como si tu madre fuera yo.
Eka no la llama nunca mamá.
Libros de la autora comentados en el blog:
https://weedjee.wordpress.com/2019/09/01/hindenburg-cristina-cerrada-spanish-book-edition/
The book places us in the contest between Russia and Georgia, which in some way anticipated the current one in Ukraine. And, similarly to the previous two novels, the main character in it is a woman, Eka, who had to leave her village, located on the border between Europe and Western Asia, because of the war. In her childhood she experienced a terrible event that would mark her forever and that, although many years have passed and she wants to forget her past, she has turned her into a personality as violent as the ones she rejects.
With short chapters and a concise style that is sometimes like a whiplash, Cristina Cerrada denounces the horror that is perpetrated in the name of the country and re-presents a hard story where it is clear that the consequences of wars never end.
It’s a hard story, but, deep down, there is a certain optimism reflected in Eka’s way of being. Despite everything that has happened to her, she tries to recover and make her dream come true: to go to Canada, specifically to the Quebec area, that’s why she starts studying French. Will she be able to make her dream come true? To find out, you have to read this novel. This dream of Eka’s is like a kind of lifeline for her. Something to cling to. What surrounds him is not pleasant at all: hate, violence, xenophobia, harshness, disorders…
Cristina Cerrada’s characters have a strong psychological charge. They are characters that she describes little physically, the description is rather internal. For this reason, all of her characters are key in the development of the story and are the ones that contribute that quality to her novel.
Eka’s character does not go unnoticed by the reader. She surprises her ability to pull herself together.
Is small girl. One day she realizes that other children have a mother and she does not. When one of those children falls down, a woman comes to get him on his feet. She misses a mother, a woman who picks her up from the ground when she falls. The woman her father remarried says for her to call her mom.
“Your mother was my sister,” he says, “and since you didn’t know her she’s as if she were me.
Eka never calls her mom.
Her mother was kidnapped to get married. It was her father who kidnapped her. He was a shy man used to dealing with sheep, horses and cows, but not with women. He was not a criminal. If she hadn’t kidnapped his wife she would never have gotten married.
Kidnapping women is a tradition in her country. There those things do not hide, at least not then. Later it will be different.
She is small. One day she realizes that other children have a mother and she does not. When one of those children falls down, a woman comes to get him on his feet. She misses a mother, a woman who picks her up from the ground when she falls.
The woman her father married when they came to live in Canada says she calls her mom.
«Your mother died herself,» he says. And since you didn’t know her, she’s like your mother is me.
Eka never calls her mom.
Books from the author commented in the blog:
https://weedjee.wordpress.com/2019/09/01/hindenburg-cristina-cerrada-spanish-book-edition/
David, earth planet , knopfler and a humble man 