The Bitch

Colombia’s Pacific coast, where everyday life entails warding off the brutal forces of nature.

In this constant struggle, nothing is taken for granted. Damaris lives with her fisherman husband in a shack on a bluff overlooking the sea. Childless and at that age 'when women dry up', as her uncle puts it, she is eager to adopt an orphaned puppy. But this act may bring more than just affection into her home.

The Bitch is written in a prose as terse as the villagers, with storms - both meteorological and emotional - lurking around each corner. Beauty and dread live side by side in this poignant exploration of the many meanings of motherhood and love.

©2020 Pilar Quintana (P)2021 World Editions

Reseñas de la Crítica

“The Bitch is a novel of true violence. Artist that she is, Pilar Quintana uncovers wounds we didn’t know we had, shows us their beauty and then throws a handful of salt into them.” (Yuri Herrera, author of Signs Preceding the End of the World)

“Sardonic and pitch-black, The Bitch begins when childless Damaris brings an orphaned puppy home to the shack she shares with her fisherman husband...what ensues is written with such viciousness that it slices all the way down to the bone.” (Vox)

“Pilar Quintana weaves human nature and the chaos of the universe together with extraordinary mastery. This is a novel full of mysteries about unfulfilled desire, guilt and the places where love still exists.” (Gabriela Alemán, author of Poso Wells)