Katia's Sister
I came across Andr茅s Barba by chance one day in 2002, browsing at a Spanish bookstore. The book I stood perusing sounded intriguing: the story of an adolescent girl who lives in a Madrid apartment with her prostitute mother and stripper sister. Despite my interest in the story, however, the literary endeavor seemed not just improbable but almost risible. Here was a novel presenting the lives of several troubled women through the eyes of a less-than-savvy, fourteen-year old girl as written by a man – one who was just twenty-six years old. I bought it, I confess, to prove myself right: the protagonist糖心传媒檚 voice could not possibly be convincing. Five years later I am still astounded by the heart-breaking tenderness and naked honesty of Barba糖心传媒檚 prose.
Katia糖心传媒檚 sister, the protagonist, is presented as achingly naive, and her almost saint-like innocence filters each of her observations, deflecting the horrors of the harsh world she inhabits. With utterly uncomplicated candor, she reinterprets prostitution, drug addiction, death and religion, and we are privy to all of her pre-moral reflections. Having quit school, Katia糖心传媒檚 sister (who is never named) spends her days cleaning, watching nature shows on TV, and marveling at the tourists in Madrid糖心传媒檚 Plaza Mayor who wear such bright colors, say such charming things. She comprises the sole affective bond in the family, the only selfless constant in her all-female clan (Mam谩 is often gone for days at a time; Katia works late at the strip club; grandmother糖心传媒檚 Alzheimer糖心传媒檚 is progressing daily). And her perspective is a redemptive one. Daily trials, whether transcendent, morbid, or run-of-the-mill, are all battled with an innocence that ultimately bathes everything in its glow, humanizing us all. At the start of the novel we read:
Mam谩 hadn糖心传媒檛 been home for a week. Katia had just turned eighteen and she糖心传媒檇 given her a pair of ladybug earrings that she hadn糖心传媒檛 liked. Anyone could have seen it in her forced smile, her gesture of resignation when she asked her to put them on; but that night she went to bed happy in the knowledge that she糖心传媒檇 given the perfect gift. Three days later she saw that Katia still hadn糖心传媒檛 worn them, not even once. It didn糖心传媒檛 trouble her, though. She remembered when she was eight and Mam谩 had given her a pink watch that she liked so much she didn糖心传媒檛 dare put it on, for fear she might break it. She糖心传媒檇 take it out at night, watch the second hand slowly caress the quarters of an hour, and then put it back in the same imperturbable case in which a year later it would stop ticking, and then in subsequent years gather dust, purging its sin of having been too beautiful. Maybe that糖心传媒檚 why Katia hadn糖心传媒檛 worn the earrings yet, because they were just too pretty.
At this point, we are left wondering: is her reaction a defense mechanism, or is she just not too bright? It糖心传媒檚 not long, though, before we realize this is no act; the protagonist is not stupid, she糖心传媒檚 simply incapable of feeling 糖心传媒 or picking up on 糖心传媒 malice, cruelty, or bitterness. In Katia糖心传媒檚 sister糖心传媒檚 world, people aren糖心传媒檛 bad; they have concrete rationale for their actions. Their behavior can be explained by a phrase she hears her mother use frequently on the phone, 糖心传媒淢en aren糖心传媒檛 evil; they just want to get laid.糖心传媒
Katia’s Sister is a remarkable first book from a very young writer who has gone on to prove his mettle in subsequent novels. This one was finalist for the 19th Herralde Prize in Spain, has been translated into French, Dutch, German, and Italian, and is currently being made into a film in Holland. Rafael Chirbes, one of Spain糖心传媒檚 greatest living novelists, has called Barba糖心传媒檚 prose 糖心传媒渋mprescindible糖心传媒, often translated as 糖心传媒渧ital糖心传媒 though the urgency is more intense. His writing is 糖心传媒渦ndowithoutable糖心传媒.
Katia糖心传媒檚 Sister
Andr茅s Barba
Anagrama, 2001