

No Deaths
Through the eyes of women. A view of the world with the power of greater emotional intelligence, telling it as it is with words filled with a more profound experience of life. In her Sin Muertos, published by Destino, Alicia Giménez-Bartlett is an outstanding witness, building up a highly original portrait of the sullen, tormented and determined Barcelona detective, who has long fascinated her vast readership. The choice is inspired, for the character becomes a person and, through the character, the author ends up talking about herself, revealing her emotions in trains of thought that go beyond literary fiction and enter the controversial sphere of history. We already knew everything about Petra as a detective. Now we learn about human development in a family torn between the Republican fervour of the father and the conservative traditionalism of the mother, in the furious, bigoted Spain of the Franco regime. We follow the rebel as she grows up, carving out her own independence as the country moves towards democracy. The essence of female pride. The “bourgeois” marriage, so formal and upright, and so empty of sincerity and human passion. And the police school, a fundamental step towards learning how to become part of a more authentic and profound world, filled with social tensions and personal drama. Petra’s personality is shaped by her bitter understanding of pain. Autobiografia di Petra Delicado Alicia Giménez-Bartlett Sellerio, 2021