Irene Cuevas A moment of tenderness and mercy

Language: español

Year of publication: 2024

Valuation: between recommendable, it is good and can be read

This novel is based on a most suggestive premise: the protagonist – we do not know her name – is dedicated to murdering old women, at the request of her heirs, in order to keep her mother admitted to a psychiatric clinic due to her continuous suicide attempts. (The psychoanalytic reading of the plot is obvious, even more so when the novel is accompanied, at least in its first edition, by a booklet titled Kill the mothers). In principle, it seems like a seamless plan that, within its macabre dynamic, goes as expected by the protagonist. Until one day he accepts the job of finishing off a victim who doesn’t exactly fit his target habitual…

Here I have to mention a point that, although it may seem so, is not at all trivial: several of the female characters that appear, among them these victims of our murderess – whom, certainly, she kills with all tenderness and mercy, as described the title of the novel – are inspired by writers whom the author of the novel admires (it’s not that I’m very smart, it’s just that she explains it in the epilogue); Thus, we find Sylvia Plath, Diane di Prima, Patricia Highsmith… and, above all, Lucia Berlin, who not only has an anecdotal presence, but becomes a central character in the novel. The inclusion of this writer – or the character inspired by her – therefore goes beyond the simple wink (even the wink-wink-nudge-nudge); In fact, it could be interpreted as a metaphor for the influence that his literary work has had on that of Irene Cuevas or even on her life, in general, although I would say that it goes further, to the point of falling into a certain mythomaniac fantasy… Anyway , that doesn’t matter, but the fact is that this appearance can provoke in a potential reader either a knowing smile or a certain blush due to what in English is known as spanish shame…In any case, let everyone decide or let themselves be carried away by their own reactions.

To move forward: what is the point, you may ask (I suppose, although maybe not) of the indecision that I show in the evaluation of this book? Well, let me explain: due to certain aspects, both the black but soft humor with a touch of absurdity (which we could connect with a certain Spanish tradition, from Jardiel Poncela or Miguel Mihura to, for example, Juan José Millás), as well as the delicious dialogues of the protagonist with her frustrated suicidal mother, the novel seems to me, without a doubt, recommendable. On the other hand, it is fine in terms of the references that we could describe as “metaliterary” (the quotes are not superfluous) that it includes, since, although they are very explicit, they do not have to condition the reading of those who do not know them or do not catch them. . Now, as I have already mentioned, they can also produce a growing blush that does not benefit the final impression that the novel leaves.

Finally, the novel also contains some moments typical of a “romantic novel for young adults” (moments Heartstopperso to speak, with characters that would seem to appear in First dates). I’m sure that more than one reader will find these moments and dialogues most satisfactory – and I’m not referring to the erotic scenes, which are quite successful, otherwise – but for me, who is already a gentleman who could perfectly well having a Soberano brandy over a cordial after-dinner conversation with Pérez-Reverte, I found them to be extra trash for a novel that shows other interesting virtues. For example, the agile, fresh style with a poetic patina, the humor and, why not applaud it, the tenderness and piety that Irene Cuevas shows, and which indicate to us that we can expect very interesting things from her in the future.