With that, I'm moving on to the next book I'm reviewing: The Queen of The South. Another quick note: I read this book after reading Los Huesos de Dios, by Leonardo Gori. As far as I could tell, you can't find this book in English that's why I'm not reviewing it here. But, if you read Spanish or Italian, check it out.
OK, so on to The Queen of the South. I read this in Spanish as well, but it's available in English. This novel came out a few years ago but has had a resurgence in popularity because of the telenovela that came out recently. I didn't watch it, but apparently it was a pretty big hit. This book is about Teresa Mendoza, a young woman from Sinaloa that gets caught up in the underworld of drug trafficking.She ends up living on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, where she meets another young man. He also happens to drive a boat to bring drugs into Europe from Morocco. I don't want to give to much away, but circumstances lead to her being in jail where she meets a woman that will change her luck and her life.
There have been plenty of complaints about how this novel glamorizes narcos. I can totally see why, but I don't think that's really what the story is about. Teresa has very humble beginnings. She grows up in a violent society, where people do things they may not want to do to survive. Teresa, I think, happens to be cold-blooded enough that she refuses to let circumstances dictate whether she lives or dies. Would I want to meet this woman? No damn way. But I think Perez-Reverte manages to make her, if not a sympathetic character, at least someone that the reader can respect.
Next up: The Return, by Victoria Hislop
