Nombres y animales

Dynamiting magical realism from the base, but nourishing, in a certain sense, its absolute freedom of fiction, the Dominican writer Rita Indiana builds in this prodigious novel, which surpasses the achievements of her previous book, Papi (Periférica, 2011), an edifice narrative governed by an endearing teenager (who, from the first pages, becomes fundamental in our lives as readers) and inhabited by a family as peculiar as, although it sounds like a contradiction, and you will understand why, "current." While the parents of the protagonist leave the Caribbean to visit the Universal Exposition of Seville in 1992, she works in the veterinary clinic of her uncles Fin and Celia, two characters drawn with unique precision and humor, a trademark of the author. Outlandish stories, nameless animals, illegitimate children, mistreated Haitians, lovers from another time... and also from this one. And, of course, as in all summers at that age, the discovery of sex. That is, Armenia, Radamés, Vita, Guido, Cutty, Mandy, Uriel, Claudia... Magic and stupor at times; mystery and desire others. A double twist on the theme of the Latin American soap opera and the theme of the coming-of-age novel. An overwhelming novel, written in a state of grace.