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  • The Sadness of Shadows

MTO Press

The Sadness of Shadows

by Lola Ancira.

Translated from Spanish by Juana Adcock.

  • £12.99
  • Available to be ordered
  • Paperback published on 07/03/2024
  • Page count: 190 pages
  • ISBN: 9781916913035
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Synopsis

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.

About the author

Ancira has published essays, short stories, and literary reviews in various electronic and print media outlets.

More books published by MTO Press

Indie publisher MTO Press is a social enterprise publishing literature by women and non-binary authors. They donate at least 50% of their profits to various causes depending on the book in question and the aims of the author.

View all books by MTO Press

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