Karina Sainz Borgo

“[A] rich and lyrical tale of desperation and redemption . . . Throughout, Sainz Borgo applies stark poetry to the terrifying setting, where 'moans and cries attributed to ghosts sometimes masked executions and beatings.' It’s a stunner.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“[A] deeply felt meditation on migration, mourning and the simultaneous entanglement and estrangement of the living and the dead” —Los Angeles TimesWinner of the 2023 Jan Michalski Prize, a searing novel of loss and resilience that illuminates the often-overlooked human dimension of the migrant crisis, re-imagining the border as a dreamlike purgatory bridging life and death. In an unnamed Latin American country, a mysterious plague quickly spreads, erasing the memory of anyone infected. Angustias Romero flees with her family, but their flight is tragically cut short when she loses both her children. Consumed by grief, she finds herself within the hallucinatory expanse of Mezquite––a town corrupted by greed and populated by storytellers, refugees, and violent, predatory gangs. Here, Angustias is finally able to lay her children to rest at the Third Country, a cemetery run by the larger-than-life Visitación Salazar and a refuge beyond suffering and fear. While Visitación remains defiant in her mission to care for the dead, the cemetery she oversees is the focal point of a bitter land dispute with Alcides Abundio, the most feared landowner of the border. Caught in this power struggle, Angustias and Visitación–friends and sometimes rivals– stand their ground on a frontier where the law is dictated by violence; a surreal territory whose very nature blurs the boundaries between life and death. Exploring what we are capable of and how far we will go when we have nothing to lose, No Place to Bury the Dead confirms Karina Sainz Borgo’s importance amongst the voices of modern Latin American literature, merging thriller, western, and classic tragedy in an unforgettable and urgent novel that won the 2023 Jan Michalski Prize. Translated from the Spanish by Elizabeth Bryer

“[A] rich and lyrical tale of desperation and redemption . . . Throughout, Sainz Borgo applies stark poetry to the terrifying setting, where 'moans and cries attributed to ghosts sometimes masked executions and beatings.' It’s a stunner.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“[A] deeply felt meditation on migration, mourning and the simultaneous entanglement and estrangement of the living and the dead” —Los Angeles TimesWinner of the 2023 Jan Michalski Prize, a searing novel of loss and resilience that illuminates the often-overlooked human dimension of the migrant crisis, re-imagining the border as a dreamlike purgatory bridging life and death. In an unnamed Latin American country, a mysterious plague quickly spreads, erasing the memory of anyone infected. Angustias Romero flees with her family, but their flight is tragically cut short when she loses both her children. Consumed by grief, she finds herself within the hallucinatory expanse of Mezquite––a town corrupted by greed and populated by storytellers, refugees, and violent, predatory gangs. Here, Angustias is finally able to lay her children to rest at the Third Country, a cemetery run by the larger-than-life Visitación Salazar and a refuge beyond suffering and fear. While Visitación remains defiant in her mission to care for the dead, the cemetery she oversees is the focal point of a bitter land dispute with Alcides Abundio, the most feared landowner of the border. Caught in this power struggle, Angustias and Visitación–friends and sometimes rivals– stand their ground on a frontier where the law is dictated by violence; a surreal territory whose very nature blurs the boundaries between life and death. Exploring what we are capable of and how far we will go when we have nothing to lose, No Place to Bury the Dead confirms Karina Sainz Borgo’s importance amongst the voices of modern Latin American literature, merging thriller, western, and classic tragedy in an unforgettable and urgent novel that won the 2023 Jan Michalski Prize. Translated from the Spanish by Elizabeth Bryer

Kulkutaudin ja köyhyyden takaa-ajama Angustias Salveiro saapuu syrjäisille rajaseuduille Mezquite-nimiseen kylään hulluuden partaalla häilyvän miehensä ja kuolleiden kaksosvauvojensa kanssa. Kylä kuhisee laittomia siirtolaisia ja naisia, jotka pyrkivät parempaan elämään, mutta joutuvat henkensä pitimiksi myymään hiustensa lisäksi lopulta myös itseään. Angustias löytää tiensä El Tercer Paísiin, laittomalle hautausmaalle, jota hoitaa pahamaineinen nainen nimeltä Visitación Salazar. Siellä naiset joutuvat taistelemaan palkkamurhaajia ja huumekauppiaita vastaan tontin hallinnasta eristyneessä maailmankolkassa, missä kaikki, myös rajaseutujen legendat ja uskomukset on valjastettu palvelemaan vallanjanoisia kuolevaisia. Karina Sainz Borgo syntyi Venezuelassa vuonna 1982. Hän muutti kymmenen vuotta sitten Espanjaan El Nacional -lehden kirjeenvaihtajaksi ja on kirjoittanut sekä kauno- että tietokirjoja. Sainz Borgolta on aiemmin julkaistu suomeksi romaani Caracasissa on vielä yö.

I Caracas i Venezuela står Adelaida Falcón over sin mors grav og må sige farvel. Adelaida efterlades i en overvældende ensomhed og sorg midt i et land, hun ikke længere kan kende: Hendes barndoms stabile og blomstrende Venezuela er nu præget af en brutal og blodig revolution. Revolutionens børn er klar til at tage de allermest rå metoder i brug – og inden Adelaida ser sig om, har hun ikke bare mistet sin mor, men alt, hvad hun ejede. Nat i Caracas er en roman om sorgen efter en tabt mor og et tabt land, om politiske omvæltninger og destruktive kræfter, men mest af alt er det en roman om, hvor meget et menneske kan stå igennem; om vedholdenhed og viljen til at overleve. Denne bog er oversat af Peer F. Bundgaard.

"A propulsively written, harrowing story, as desperate as it is timely."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

En enkel träkista, en kort ceremoni i ett fallfärdigt kapell. Adelaida Falcón begraver sin mor. Nu är hon ensam i ett land där skyddsnätet för länge sedan gett vika. Hyperinflation, våld och laglöshet är en del av vardagen, gränsövergångarna är överbelastade av venezuelaner som försöker ta sig ut. När Adelaida efter ett inbrott finner kvinnan i grannlägenheten död ser hon en oväntad möjlighet att undkomma kollapsen.” Natt i Caracas” är en nervig och angelägen roman om en kvinnas desperata försök att överleva i ett samhälle i upplösning. Det är en berättelse som påminner om hur snabbt världen kan rämna, och om hur stark människans vilja att överleva kan vara.

An urgent literary phenomenon sold in over 22 languages before publication, a gripping tale of one womanâ??s desperate battle to survive the dangerous, sometimes deadly, turbulence of modern Venezuela.

Told with gripping intensity, It Would be Night in Caracas chronicles one woman's desperate battle to survive amid the dangerous, sometimes deadly, turbulence of modern Venezuela and the lengths she must go to secure her future. In Caracas, Venezuela, Adelaida Falcon stands over an open grave. Alone, except for harried undertakers, she buries her mother-the only family Adelaida has ever known. Numb with grief, Adelaida returns to the apartment they shared. Outside the window that she tapes shut every night--to prevent the tear gas raining down on protesters in the streets from seeping in. When looters masquerading as revolutionaries take over her apartment, Adelaida resists and is beaten up. It is the beginning of a fight for survival in a country that has disintegrated into violence and anarchy, where citizens are increasingly pitted against each other. But as fate would have it, Adelaida is given a gruesome choice that could secure her escape. Filled with riveting twists and turns, and told in a powerful, urgent voice, It Would Be Night in Caracas is a chilling reminder of how quickly the world we know can crumble.

Told with gripping intensity, It Would be Night in Caracas chronicles one woman's desperate battle to survive amid the dangerous, sometimes deadly, turbulence of modern Venezuela and the lengths she must go to secure her future. In Caracas, Venezuela, Adelaida Falcon stands over an open grave. Alone, except for harried undertakers, she buries her mother-the only family Adelaida has ever known. Numb with grief, Adelaida returns to the apartment they shared. Outside the window that she tapes shut every night--to prevent the tear gas raining down on protesters in the streets from seeping in. When looters masquerading as revolutionaries take over her apartment, Adelaida resists and is beaten up. It is the beginning of a fight for survival in a country that has disintegrated into violence and anarchy, where citizens are increasingly pitted against each other. But as fate would have it, Adelaida is given a gruesome choice that could secure her escape. Filled with riveting twists and turns, and told in a powerful, urgent voice, It Would Be Night in Caracas is a chilling reminder of how quickly the world we know can crumble.

As seen in the New York Times Book Review Told with gripping intensity, It Would be Night in Caracas chronicles one woman's desperate battle to survive amid the dangerous, sometimes deadly, turbulence of modern Venezuela and the lengths she must go to secure her future." Echoes of Borges in a novel of war-torn Venezuela . . . the writing is tense and complex . . . dynamic." -The New York TimesIn Caracas, Venezuela, Adelaida Falc n stands over an open grave. Alone, she buries her mother--the only family she has ever known--and worries that when night falls thieves will rob the grave. Even the dead cannot find peace here. Adelaida had a stable childhood in a prosperous Venezuela that accepted immigrants in search of a better life, where she lived with her single-mother in a humble apartment. But now? Every day she lines up for bread that will inevitably be sold out by the time she reaches the registers. Every night she tapes her windows to shut out the tear gas raining down on protesters. When looters masquerading as revolutionaries take over her apartment, Adelaida must make a series of gruesome choices in order to survive in a country disintegrating into anarchy, where citizens are increasingly pitted against each other. But just how far is she willing to go? A bold new voice from Latin America, Karina Sainz Borgo's touching, thrilling debut is an ode to the Venezuelan people and a chilling reminder of how quickly the world we know can crumble. Translated from the Spanish by Elizabeth Bryer

SE PUEDE PERDER TODO. SE PUEDE EMPEZAR DE NUEVO. SOLO SI ERES OTRA. Un fen meno editorial sin precedentes en la literatura en espa ol. Vendida a 22 pa ses antes de su publicaci n. Adelaida Falc n, una maestra caraque a, fallece tras una larga enfermedad. Su hija Adelaida, de treinta y ocho a os, no tiene a nadie y vive en una ciudad donde la violencia marca el ritmo diario de la existencia. Poco tiempo despu s del entierro, encuentra su casa tomada por un grupo de mujeres a las rdenes de la Mariscala. Llama a la puerta de su vecina sin hallar respuesta: Aurora Peralta, a quien todos llaman la hija de la espa ola , ha muerto. Encima de la mesa del sal n, una carta le comunica que le han concedido el pasaporte espa ol. Adelaida solo tiene que deshacerse del cad ver que yace en el suelo y usurpar la identidad de su vecina para huir del infierno. La hija de la espa ola es el retrato de una mujer que escapa de todos los estereotipos enfrentada a una situaci n extrema. Con su primera novela, la periodista Karina Sainz Borgo, se ha convertido en la gran noticia literaria del a o. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION You can lose everything. You can start over. But only if you are someone else. An unprecedented editorial phenomenon in Spanish-language literature. Sold in 22 countries even before publication. Adelaida Falc n, a teacher from Caracas, passes away after a long illness. Her 38-year-old daughter Adelaida has no one and lives in a city where violence marks everyday existence. Shortly after the funeral, she finds her house taken by a group of women on Mariscala's orders. She knocks on her neighbor's door, with no answer: Aurora Peralta, whom everyone called "the Spaniard's daughter," has died. On the coffee table is a letter stating that she has been granted a Spanish passport. Adelaida just has to dispose of the body lying on the floor and take on the identity of her neighbor to escape from hell. It Would Be Night in Caracas is the portrait of a woman who escapes from all stereotypes when faced with an extreme situation. With her first novel, journalist Karina Sainz Borgo has become the big literary news of the year.

Terävä ja kipeän kaunis romaani kuvaa Venezuelaa kaaoksen partaalla sekä naista, joka joutuu jättämään oman elämänsä ja pakenemaan maasta, jossa ainoat kaikkia koskevat asiat ovat väkivalta, nälkä ja röyhkeys. Venezuelassa voi milloin tahansa tapahtua mitä tahansa. Adelaidan äiti kuolee sairaalassa, josta ovat loppuneet lääkkeet, ja hän joutuu käyttämään kaikki loput rahansa hautajaisiin. Arkunlaskun jälkeen Adelaida ja kuljettaja joutuvat pakenemaan hautausmaalta henkensä edestä, koska aseistettu katujengi viettää siellä väkivaltaisia bakkanaaleja. Kotiin palattuaan hän huomaa, että asunnon on vallannut vallankumouksellisten naisten joukko, joka ei laske häntä sisään. Hän pakenee naapurinsa asuntoon ja löytää tämän kuolleena olohuoneen lattialta. Pakon edessä Adelaida tekee vaikean ratkaisun ja jättää taakseen rakkaan isänmaansa. Kaaoksen ohella romaani maalaa lukijan eteen myös rauhallisemman menneisyyden, ajan jolloin sekä kaupungissa että maaseudulla oli turvallista ja yhteiskunta toimi. Karina Sainz Borgo syntyi Venezuelassa vuonna 1982. Hän muutti kymmenen vuotta sitten Espanjaan El Nacional -lehden kirjeenvaihtajaksi. Hän asuu Madridissa ja on kirjoittanut myös kaksi tietokirjaa.