AMB FIL DE SEDA

(SEMBRA Llibres, 2022)

Critic’s Award by Interuniversity Institute of Valencian Philology

Novel: young
Literary style: narrative
Language: catalan
Tags: music, gender, family, friendship, body
Recommended for: secondary school

When Carla enters the ICU, the world she knew seems to have collapsed. Or at least that’s what it seems. She and her high school friends live facing their own ghosts. The passion for music has united them in the creation of a rock band. And throughout songs they learn how to feel alive. But it’s not that easy. Prejudices and obstacles multiply everywhere. They won’t give in though. And they will continue to walk the tightrope between euphoria and tragedy.

At Amb fil de seda, Muriel Villanueva captivates us with the story of a music band created by young women willing not to give up. A vibrant story about a fall into the void, a moving, a parting, an imminent death, aesthetic pressure and the questioning of their own gender, bring together four young people who find in art the language with which they understand each other. A journey through an internal revolution of a choral, adolescent, rural and loving dimension that rides on the unstoppable wave of creativity.

«I recommend it if you like friendship books with special, music-loving boys who are in their teens.»

@supertramp.books, teacher and school librarian.

«Muriel Villanueva brings us perfectly to the keys to friendship in such a complex stage as adolescence.»

Enric Codina, Faristol – Clijcat.

«It is very easy to identify with at least one of the characters in the book, as they all go through problems, fears and traumas that are often seen in society.»

Aída Heane, @lassagasdeaida.

«A story where mystery and intrigue surround the plot until the end of the book. An agile novel, with a fast-paced rhythm.»

Ciutat de Llibres.

«Muriel Villanueva’s books are intimate, emotional and poignant, as they deal with uncomfortable topics that are often not addressed in youth literature. […] In this choral work, current themes such as self-esteem and the acceptance of non-normative bodies, gender identity or family conflicts appear, and invites us to reflect and empathize with them.»

Mixa.

«Abril, Noa, Carla and Berta connect directly with every person eager to break taboos and to revive and remember that any being -adolescent or not- is a social animal in search of a silken thread that wraps the cabbage selectivity, acceptance in the group and artistic passion.»

Andrea Torres, FULL Foundation.

«The grace of Muriel Villanueva at the time of including these types of characters and representing their problems in a novel aimed at an audience of a delicate age will achieve, on the one hand, that many of the readers can, probably for the first time once, to see themselves reflected in a book and, on the other hand, that the rest close their eyes and educate themselves in understanding, acceptance and equality.»

Aitana Amorós, Caràcters Magazine.