Lo que hay
| Author | Sara Torres |
|---|---|
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre | Autofiction |
| Publisher | Reservoir Books |
| Publication date | 2022 |
| Publication place | Spain |
| ISBN | 978-8-417-91096-9 |
Lo que hay (English: What it is) is a autofiction novel by the Spanish author Sara Torres published in 2022. The book explores the story of a protagonist who loses her mother and her female lover at almost the same time.
Synopsis
The book opens with the protagonist finding herself making love to a woman in a room of a Barcelona hotel while her mother lays dying of cancer. She has booked plane tickets to visit her the next day, not knowing that her mother had already died. As her lover disappears and leaves without a trace, she feels disappointed and alone while facing grief from the loss of both her mother and lover. Meanwhile, her partner returns from London to provide her support and settles with her in an apartment along the coast.[1][2]
Analysis
The novel, written by Sara Torres, was published on 5 May 2022. The title of the novel comes from the Asturian expression.[3][4]
The autofiction novel deals with themes similar to those addressed in several of the author's previously published poems.[5] The autobiographical component of the book comes from the author's own experience of her mother being diagnosed with terminal cancer when she was 18, and who would die ten years later. Sections from the first part of the book comes from the author's trip to the Asturias to attend her mother's funeral.[6]
In the novel, the author deals with issues such as guilt, desire, mourning and love. It reflects on issues of personal relationships between women, monogamy, and loss of love.[7] The protagonist introspects along these themes through memories of the past.[8]
Reception
The newspaper El Español highlighted that the work "reflects desire with an almost poetic language".[9] El Mundo lauded the way in which the premature loss of her mother and the mourning of the protagonist is detailed, while also exploring the relationships of love and desire between women.[6]
In 2023, the novel received the Javier Morote award from the Spanish Confederation of Guilds and Associations of Booksellers under the category "Best Revelation (Author)".[10][11]
References
- ^ "Lo que hay, de Sara Torres" [What Is There, by Sara Torres]. La Sexta (in Spanish). 16 September 2022. Archived from the original on 15 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ "Lo que hay by Sara Torres". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
- ^ García Pintueles, Gloria (31 October 2024). "La literatura como experiencia encarnada: duelo, enfermedad y deseo en Lo que hay (2022) de Sara Torres" [Literature as Embodied Experience: Grief, Illness and Desire in Lo que hay (2022) by Sara Torres]. Lectora: revista de dones i textualitat (in Spanish): 83–100. doi:10.1344/Lectora2024.30.5. Archived from the original on 21 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ "Sara Torres: "Me recuerdo de adolescente pidiendo perdón y rezando a dios por las noches porque deseaba"" [Sara Torres: "I remember as a teenager asking for forgiveness and praying to God at night because I desired"]. El Español (in Spanish). 8 June 2022. Archived from the original on 26 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ "Sara Torres: "Las guerras de amor entre una madre y una hija se parecen a las de dos amantes"" [Sara Torres: "Love wars between a mother and a daughter resemble those between two lovers"]. el Diario (in Spanish). 30 May 2022. Archived from the original on 18 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ a b "Sara Torres: "Ser mujer y lesbiana suena a precariedad doble"" [Sara Torres: "Being a woman and lesbian sounds like double precarity"]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 27 June 2022. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ "Sara Torres indaga en el duelo y el deseo sin culpa en "Lo que hay"" [Sara Torres explores grief and desire without guilt in "Lo que hay"]. Efeminista (in Spanish). 29 August 2022. Archived from the original on 22 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ "Sara Torres: "Tenemos la posibilidad de sanarnos juntas"" [Sara Torres: "We have the possibility of healing together"]. Vein (in Spanish). 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ "Sara Torres: "Me recuerdo de adolescente pidiendo perdón y rezando a dios por las noches porque deseaba"" [Sara Torres: "I remember as a teenager asking for forgiveness and praying to God at night because I desired"]. El Español (in Spanish). 8 June 2022. Archived from the original on 26 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ "Los nuevos mitos del deseo según Sara Torres, las dudas de Pau Luque, la cancelación de los monumentos incómodos y otros libros de la semana" [The new myths of desire according to Sara Torres, Pau Luque’s doubts, the cancellation of uncomfortable monuments and other books of the week]. El País (in Spanish). 27 April 2024. Archived from the original on 12 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- ^ "Sara Torres, premiada por los libreros como autora revelación" [Sara Torres, awarded by booksellers as breakthrough author]. Fundación Antonio Gala (in Spanish). 18 February 2023. Archived from the original on 29 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.