Description
Book SynopsisLucía and Pablo are Colombian immigrants who’ve built their lives together in the US yet maintain conflicting attitudes towards their homeland and the extent to which it defines their identity. After undergoing fertility treatment, Pablo finds himself excluded from raising their twins, and the new family situation seems to question the very nature of their relationship and of who they believed they were. In search of respite and time to reflect, Lucía takes the kids to her parents’ apartment in Miami. Meanwhile, Pablo learns he is suffering from a syndrome known as ‘Holiday Heart’. But is this just a break, or is it really the final days of their marriage?
Trade ReviewBiblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana Prize (Finalist)
"García Robayo writes with caustic insight, brittle humour and a fair whack of cynicism (...) Holiday Heart is brilliant." —The Guardian
"Understated, lyrical, and delivers its insights by means of acute observation. (5 stars)" —The Arts Desk
"Cunningly well achieved." —Irish Times
"Holiday Heart is a poignant and searing story of love ending." —Gutter Magazine
"Coombe’s translation brilliantly captures the bite in García Robayo’s humour." —iNews
"One of Colombia’s greatest living writers." —The Monthly Booking
"Brilliantly dramatises the disjunction between an idealized picture of life like sitting on a sunny beach and the reality of that life like getting sand caught in your teeth." —Lonesome Reader
Best Fiction Books of 2017 —New York Times (Español)
"Darkly funny throughout, this examination of two lives will stay with you long after you read the final words and lay the book down." —Lunate
"Every sentence in the book seems to be written with a scalpel infused with acid. " —Morning Star
"Acute, provocative, concise and raw." —Translating Women
"An incredibly insightful portrayal of a disintegrating marriage...provides a sharp-eyed view of estrangement and personal identity." —Book Riot
"Frightening, alluring, and inescapable." —Books and Bao
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Praise for Margarita García Robayo
Casa de las Américas Prize (Winner)
Society of Authors Valle-Inclán Prize (Shortlist)
"García Robayo’s prose bristles with restrained energy and a wry humour which captures the disaffection of her characters." —The Times Literary Supplement
"[Fish Soup] is a gorgeous, blackly humorous look into the lives of Colombians struggling to find their place in society, both at home and abroad." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A remarkable genre-bending effort." —The Guardian
"The tackiness of the Caribbean coast and its discontents are marvellously rendered." —The Times Literary Supplement
"If you’re a fan of Ottessa Moshfegh or Melissa Broder, then this is for you." —The Guardian
"An evocative collection that conveys the potency of desire in even the most ordinary lives." —Kirkus
"García Robayo is building one of the most solid and interesting oeuvres in Latin American literature."" —Juan Cárdenas , author of ORNAMENTAL
"Her stories combine the atmosphere of Desperate Housewives, Hemingway’s iceberg theory and a memorable, bittersweet ending."" —Jorge Carrión , author of BOOKSHOPS
"Margarita shows sharp insight into contemporary life. Her voice speaks with surreptitious irony and sophisticated psychological perception. She is the creator of an exceptional poetics of displacement."" —Juan Villoro , author of THE WITNESS
"There are very few writers who can challenge expectations the way Margarita García Robayo does. Margarita is simply one of the best of the new generation that respects, yet no longer identifies with, the Latin American Boom."" —Mariana Enríquez , author of THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE
"This is a text written from within the belly of the beast. (…) One of the most essential books of the year." —Asymptote
"García Robayo’s prose is concise and startling, her voice versatile and capable of packing a serious punch." —LA Review of Books
"One of the most potent figures of contemporary Latin American literature." —ABC Cultural
"Full of everyday details that reveal the most vulnerable aspects of feminine subjectivity." —La Nación
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