MOTRIL 86
(A tot vent, Proa, Edicions 62, 2013)
Novel: adult
Literary style: narrativa
Language: catalan
Genre: autobiography, self fitcion
In 1986, ten-year-old Mar began a vacation with one of her two mothers. While the biologist attends the shop in Barcelona, the girl goes to Motril with Paula, who works as a teacher there and shares a flat in front of the sea. The car ride together, where they pick up a cheeky young hitchhiker, sing Martirio and Alaska songs, and argue over any nonsense, is a test of fire. A stay on the coast of Granada, where the sea makes new acquaintances, is an intense adventure of initiation into feelings and life.
«As for the technique, the result is impeccable, perhaps the most brilliant and daring achieved so far by Villanueva, an undeniable tour de force. Due to this same formal primacy, however, there will be those who think that Motril 86 is also the most rational of the author’s works. Brighter than others, yes, and therefore colder. A work that opens a cat flap in La Gatera.»
Ricard Ruiz, El País, Quadern – Catalunya.
«Muriel Villanueva is one of those who do not conform, she flees from conventions, rejects the commonplaces of traditional narrative and opposes orderly and persuasive approaches with uncertain and disturbing movement.»
Anna M. Gil, La Vanguàrdia.
«This is a refreshing, heartbreaking story, with a good dose of tenderness and soaked in love. With a model structure of lived situations, with concrete facts, alternating past and present, which allows us to provide a social and sociological vision of the changes experienced in the last 40 years. An evolution well portrayed through the influence of music, fashion, drugs, sex and the evolution of customs, are captured with small sparks of life that help complete the story. A clear, sharp, direct language, with humor and without concessions. A literature that makes you love life more.»
Jordi Capdevila, El Punt Avui.
«Conducted all this with a casual, fresh prose, with humor and lyricism. Without forgetting a moment of expressive daring, such as the appearance of the singer Alaska, where she mixes desire and fantasy with various temporary cuts. In short, a highly suggestive proposal that, based on biographical ingredients, takes us to another aesthetic area, full of stimuli, where the characters of Paula and Mar stand out, a real find, which are projected beyond reading.»
Frascesc Calafat, El País, Quadern – País Valencià.
«Everything, an intense and beautiful story perfectly constructed, between the past and the present, between reality and fiction, of a world of deep feelings, demystified, that lead to personal liberation.»
Isabel Robles, El Levante.
«The strength of Motril 86, more than the power of history, in the freshness of a prose that combines lyricism and humor, rigor and innovative spirit. And that treats the language and the story itself with a delicious attitude of debauchery. The other strong point is the profile of some characters (older, the girl protagonist) that go through the reader’s dermis and endure.»
Xavier Aliaga, El País, Quadern – País Valencià.
«Muriel Villanueva’s way of playing with memory, and of interweaving it with the present, is different and not far removed from the devilish resources she demonstrated with the celebrated La Gatera (2012), winner of the Just Casero award. Only here it unfolds with the current woman, who considers motherhood, and the ten-year-old girl, educated by two mothers, who opens herself to the complexities of the adult world during a stay in Motril, immersed in the human sample so post-transition picturesque.»
Isidre Grau, El Punt Avui.
«The character of Mar has no biases or cracks and her small world configures the haystack of Motril 86. With the blurred limits between reality and fiction, Villanueva grants writing the power to return to the past to redo the steps and modulate the very existence.»
Núria Juanico, Llibres per llegir.
What readers say
«This vindication -which Mar makes so special- I need so much. I have laughed, I have stopped to think why, I have looked at myself from Mar. A story surrounded by the Mediterranean that is common: the sun, the sea and the brilliant blue dazzle the story. And how we look at our mothers, at our fathers. How we saw them then and how we see them now.»
Jordi Belda.
«Coming back by train I just finished Motril 86. It’s like one of these modern chocolates: sweet with a few grains of salt. Impressive. oh! And I’m a big fan of Flores!»
Clara Palomero.
«Does anybody writes better than Muriel Villanueva? Read Motril 86 and then come back to me.»
Javi Agudo.
«I am writing to you because yesterday I finished Motril 86 and I have to tell you that I liked it a lot. It is the most personal book I have ever read and the most complex. Very round, yes ma’am. I have been letting it rest for weeks on the shelf, waiting for the moment to return to Motril. And I have read everything to him sitting in the patio of the farmhouse, while contrasting the three motriles: mine, the one from Mar and yours.»
Josep Duran Relat.
«Just yesterday I finished Motril 86 and I take this opportunity to tell you that I loved it. Very much. Although I am from year 84 and I am more of a girl from the early 90s, I have felt identified with many things. It has been a trip to my childhood, too… Also, throughout the reading I felt in each scenario. I fully visualized them. I just wanted to let you know that you have given me a most nostalgic and sensational time.»
Elisenda Solsona.
«A couple of days ago I finished reading Motril 86, and it has made me have a great time. I think what I liked most about the book is the details. I mean, it has helped me understand the weight of details in building consistent and believable universes. The music, the characters, the clothes they wear, the string bracelet, the shoes, the food. I have really had the feeling of inhabiting the world of the book, of walking, seeing it and feeling it. And now it’s inside me.»
Romina Queralt.