Barcelona, España, 1969
Berta Marsé, the daughter of the famous author Juan Marsé, worked for some years in the film sector as a script analyst for various production companies. She has also worked as a professional reader for a handful of publishing houses. She won the Premio Gabriel Aresti for her short story La tortuga, a tale that featured in her first short story collection, En jaque, which gained an enthusiastic reception among critics. Her stories have been included in various anthologies and have appeared in journals such as Eñe and Turia, as well as the newspaper El País, to which she has also contributed as a columnist.
- “Marsé’s work scales unexpected heights.” Pedro Donoso, Revista de Libros
- “Rich prose, polished down to the finest details.” Anna Tomàs, Avui
- “She displays an intelligence perfectly prepared for less complacent deeper studies of human nature.” J. Ernesto Ayala-Dip, El País
- “A writer who knows very well how to separate the wheat from the chaff.” Juan Ángel Juristo, ABC
- “Marsé is a must-read.” José Antonio Muñoz, Revista de Letras
Bibliography
Two teenagers, friends and rivals, united by a sinister and terrible event.
The destinies of Desiré and Yésica are forever linked together when one of them is kidnapped. Yésica, the beautiful, intelligent girl who gets the best grades in high school, is abducted when leaving a concert, while Desiré, who is quite the opposite, returns home safe and sound on that night.
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Novel
Two teenagers, friends and rivals, united by a sinister and terrible event.
The destinies of Desiré and Yésica are forever linked together when one of them is kidnapped. Yésica, the beautiful, intelligent girl who gets the best grades in high school, is abducted when leaving a concert, while Desiré, who is quite the opposite, returns home safe and sound on that night.
The kidnapping shocks the Barcelona popular neighbourhood where the teenagers belong. For years there is no trace of Yésica, until one day, when no one expects to find her alive, she reappears. She is a new Yésica, not at all like the innocent, perfect girl from before, and she refuses to recount the hell she has been through.
Only Desiré seems remotely capable of understanding her and being her friend. Since the day of the kidnapping, she has not been able to recover her old self either.
Encargo reads with the addictive suspense of a crime novel and the spine-chilling tension of a horror story, but unlike these there is no place in it for police enquiries or the exploration of evil. All the attention is focused on the victims, on the everyday lives of two ordinary teenagers shaken by terror.
“An absolutely delightful novel. A marvel.” Benjamin Prado
“[...] a disturbing story that explores some of the darkest corners of the human mind and the ambiguity of feelings." Librotea, El País
“Encargo brings together a coming-of-age story and a tale of mystery and suspense, a story about teenagers, the vicissitudes of prison life, a traditional comedy and a drama. [...] Thus, Berta Marsé's descent into the enigmas of the human heart is filled to the brim with anecdotal and emotional grit.” Santos Sanz Villanueva, El Cultural
“In En jaque I highlighted “the subtlety of her methods”, and this subtlety appears in Encargo too, because it is the key to all her writing. […] Her prose is always attractive and captivating.” J.A. Masoliver-Ródenas, La Vanguardia
“A surprising novel that focuses on the unusual union and disunion of two girls. A storyline with an unexpected layout and a no less unexpected outcome." Jorge Herralde
Short stories and novellas
Las fantasías de evasión siguen ahí, en el trastero de la mente, esperando el momento oportuno para hacer su aparatosa entrada en escena. Fantaseemos entonces hasta que la realidad se nos imponga y nos golpee, o nos decepcione, como suele pasar con las cosas que se construyen al dictado de la imaginación. Luego, al menos, cuando cerremos los ojos, sabremos lo que vamos a ver.
«Entre sus mejores virtudes, la frescura y el juego al primer toque. Berta Marsé tiene un oído letal para los diálogos... Oficio y talento.» Carlos Zanón
«Que nadie se engañe ante el desenfado costumbrista, la vivacidad de los abundantes diálogos, el atractivo de una escritura directa, sin malabarismos ni digresiones: lo amable y ligero de estos cuentos se acaba en su estilo.» Domingo Ródenas, El Periódico
«Resulta altamente gratificante encontrarse con las divertidas fábulas de Berta Marsé... Fustiga con gracia y fuerza el mundo actual.» Santos Sanz Villanueva, El Mundo
Relato incluído en una antología de relatos traducidos al alemán de jóvenes escritores españoles, realizada por el Instituto Cervantes de Berlín y publicada bajo el título Paso doble. Junge spanische literatur.
La selección, realizada por Marco Thomas Bosshard, recoge relatos de diecisiete autores: Félix J. Palma, Care Santos, Javier Salinas, Agustín Fernández Mallo, Imma Turbau, Andrés Barba, Ricardo Menéndez Salmón, Berta Marsé, Josan Hatero, Espido Freire, Marcos Giralt Torrente, Empar Moliner, Javier Fernández, Unai Elorriaga, Felipe R. Navarro, Lolita Bosch y Robert Juan-Cantavella.
Los siete relatos señalan el lugar y el momento en que se abre, en las vidas cotidianas de sus personajes, una brecha tras la cual asoman los demonios familiares. El joven ilustrador que se topa con el dibujo infantil de una perturbadora tortuga. Trini, la peluquera que encuentra la ira necesaria para luchar por su menospreciada promesa de futuro. El instinto de supervivencia le dice a Patricia, una niña de cinco años, que lo mejor que puede hacer tras haberle hablado a su padre de la concha mágica es callar... Una mirada dura y sin concesiones, una voz personalísima.
«Sumamente ameno, inteligente en la sutileza de sus planteamientos.» J. A. Masoliver Ródenas, La Vanguardia
«Esta habilidad de la autora para valerse de lo cotidiano y trastocarlo en una bomba de relojería que sobrecoge al lector tanto como a los personajes es uno de los mayores haberes de este debú.» Care Santos, El Mundo
«Garra e inteligencia, finura, toque femenino y una cálida cercanía al lector.» Miguel Dalmau, Qué Leer
«Una inteligencia perfectamente engrasada para las radiografías humanas menos complacientes.» J. Ernesto Ayala-Dip, El País
Prizes
- Premio de relatos Gabriel Aresti for the short story La Tortuga