Translation Rights TQE / Friends and Ghosts

An unsettling situation, an unexpected disturbance  is the common element that flows through these stories:  the nervousness provoked by a first date where one wants to impress the other; a journey made by train as a desperate and impossible form of isolation; the great secret that an insignificant character must share and administer; the obsessive presence of an old childhood rival; or the hypocritical and oftentimes cruel relationship of a group of friends.  The narrator brings the reader to an unexpected unfolding of events, where the logic of what is conventionally expected is shattered to pieces.  Mercedes Abad demonstrates her talent as a gunner who can carefully calculate the amount of dynamite needed.

Mercedes Abad was born in Barcelona in 1961. She is the author of three short-story collections, that have ensured her a place as an essential narrator within Spanish literature. In 1986 Ligeros libertinajes sabáticos (Slight Sabbatical Licentiousness) was awarded the VIII La Sonrisa Vertical Prize and was a big success among the critics and the public. The writer, very young at the time, knew how to arise gracefully from her triumph. It has been confirmed by Felicidades conyugales (Conjugal Happiness), Soplando al viento (Blowing to the Wind), and Sangre (Blood). She is a regular contributor to the Catalan edition of the newspaper El País, and is also the author of theatre scripts and a regular participator of radio shows and cinematic projects.