Bruno Blog

I have worked with Xavier Gual for a long time, an author who writes beautifully and has conquered the young public and who, in the adult market, keeps working in this long-distance race that the editorial world requires, which may be unfair, as authors like Xavier deserve far more recognition in the sector. He always gets positive reviews and has a loyal public, bud does not stand out as much as he should, not because he does not outdo himself in each novel, but because the Catalan literary world is small and challenging. This time, he tells the fictionized story of his grandfather, the great Catalan baritone who made a fortune singing zarzuelas and who was named “el Cañón Catalán”. A special novel for him, and that could also become meaningful to a whole generation.

Joan Gual, who belongs to the Leva del Biberón, knows he does not want to die in a stupid war and deserts. Here is where the adventure of a young man begins, one who, at a young age, decides to chase his dream and use his talent, a unique voice which, once war is over, makes him a world-renowned baritone. But while touring in Latin America, without intending to, he gets involved in an espionage and counterespionage plot which will put him to the test, even in the sentimental grounds. Surrounded by guerrilla soldiers, members of the mafia, eccentric folkloric singers, exiled Nazis, rojos who have fled from Franco and personalities like Kubala, Pau Casals, or even general Castro, Joan Gual will be forced to better himself and defy his destiny in order to become a brave and fair man.

With a thrilling rhythm, the novel is a walk-through Latin America and provides the tools to understand a long gone period and movements which are now history. Based on the real story of “el Cañón Catalán”, the great baritone form Sant Andreu who succeeded in Spain and Latin America in the 50s. This is a novel for the general public, because it mixes the historic genre with mystery and invites the reader to learn the details of an era through music and a character who was an inspiration and experienced, in his own skin, stories that may seem surreal but are part of our history.

Throughout history, there are many women who are emblematic, like Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, Rosa Parks or Hedy Lamarr, women who stand among the fifteen in the world who have been an example to their time and due to their actions.

That is why, when we received a novel about Hedy Lamarr, by Roberto Lapid, who has been closely in touch with her family, we considered it a fantastic novel with a top-notch character.

Hedy lamarr was an actress of extraordinary beauty who reigned the Olympus of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Everybody admired her glamour although it overshadowed less known facets of hers. She was not only a sex symbol, but also had a privileged mind and was the creator of a communications system on which all the current technologies are based. We could say she was the mastermind behind what today we know as WIFI. Inventing was her real passion. Chemistry was her favorite subject and, since an early age, she grew interest in technology, like her father, who she adored. She developed a discrete career as a telecommunications engineer. She came up with little cubes which turned water into coke and helped the tycoon Howard Hugues in his obsession of creating a faster plane by studying birds’ aerodynamics and the physiognomy of fish.

Isn’t it extraordinary? Lapid believes Hedy Lamarr is a key woman in the history of the 20th century and that is what his novel about this intelligent beauty shows.

The novel occurs between a war struck Europe, United States and Argentina. Friedrich «Fritz» Mandl is a young Austrian who, at the age of 19, takes care of the weapon factory of his father. In just a decade, he amasses one of the biggest fortunes on the planet. He is rich, eccentric, powerful, clever and a ladies’ man. An unbelievable character, worshiped and feared by many. In the 30s, during the prewar period, he counted Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco, as well as others, among his customers. Among his close fiends stand out names like Truman Capote, Hemingway, Orson Welles, Eva Perón and the general Perón.

In 1933, after watching Ecstasy, where actress Hedwig Kiesler performed the first female nude and the first orgasm in the big screen, he fell head over heels for her. Hedy was an exceptional and beautiful theatre and engineering student. Her life was also full of lovers. After filming Ecstasy, she married Fritz and they lived an unbridled passion, but later, due to infidelities and jealousy, the relationship took a dangerous turn. He locked her in his Salzburg castle, where he organized events, meetings and does business with politicians, businessmen and judges.

Hedy managed to escape and runs away through Europe. On a cruise-ship to New York, she met Lous B. Meyer, president of Metro Goldwyn Meyer and, even before reaching their destination, they signed a contract and she became Hedy Lamarr, the most beautiful woman in the cinema, who would succeed as a famous Hollywood actress. But Hedy was more than just beauty and glamour, she also embodied power, intelligence, and dedication. Together with her acting career, she studied engineering and invented a communications system to guide torpedoes and ensure communication between the Allies during war. This technology was the base for the system used today to communicate with our phones, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

I didn’t know this woman and I loved reading this novel, as it opens the door to her accomplishments through a real story that looks like a film.

Who hasn’t enjoyed a good scary-story time around a bonfire? I am a scaredy-cat, but at the same time I like to feel this feeling of anguish in my stomach from time to time, and I know that most people do too, because horror or anguish movies triumph and books with this peculiarity have always had a wide audience. Xavier Gual, who won the 2017 Ramon Muntaner Prize with LA NOIA DE LA CARAVANA, which was already a novel with a lot of intrigue, presents a new novel, where the character of Laura, who was already in the first one, is once again the protagonist, and this time, she and a group of friends will celebrate Christmas holidays sneaking into their high school. The excuse will be to film a horror short movie and have a good time. However, they do not suspect that a heavy snowfall will complicate their plans. As the night falls, they’ll start to doubt if they’re really completely alone or if the most chilling legends can become reality.

Gual accomplishes, again, getting young people hooked on this kind of feeling between fear and suspense, which he masterfully controls, and that the novel ATRAPATS follows the path of LA NOIA DE LA CARAVANA and encourages teenagers to read, who always have a hard time finding books they actually enjoy. Therefore, I congratulate Xavi for two very well achieved goals: to reach a young audience in a solvent way and to create a perfect setting so that both adults and young people can enjoy a fast-paced reading, which I think can also work very well on screen.

When we reach an age, we see life with different eyes. You don’t want to lose hope and want to see in each step the best of it, but life starts to give warning cries that this train is halfway through and the clock keeps ticking, that everything speeds up and, regardless of the fuzz around you, the train never slows down or stops.

In this novel, Tomás, the main character, loses his wife, Magda, when they were planning to visit Vladivostok. Two years later Tomás tries to make sense of his daily routine as a retired widow: he reads the books she left pending, cycles through the hills of his neighborhood and meets his best friend, who insists on pairing him up. But this summer will change drastically, with the arrival of a new neighbor and her son, making Tomás reconsider what to do in his last years.

This is the reflection I made while reading Lluis Olivan’s novel, VLADIVOSTOK, published by Periscopi, which has recently had noticeable successes like Marta Orriol and her novels LEARNING TO TALK TO PLANTS and A SWEET INTRODUCTION TO CHAOS, also published in Spanish by Lumen.

We have all imagined what we would do when we retire or when we have more spare time, what nobody sees is that we overidealize those moments and what we should consider. Luis dives, through his character, into the meaning of life, the desire of making things when you are not able to, and that other people’s lives can be reflected on your own wishes and lacks.

I am excited to write this week’s blog, as I present a new author who published her second novel yesterday and her first with us. Our storytelling was so beautiful that only for that, the book should work. But the good part is that this book will work since it’s one of the most shocking thrillers that I have read recently, one of those manuscripts which move you for several reasons and in several ways. While reading it, you vibrate and realize that you have something important in your hands, something different, that you have A BOMB.

Her name is Men Marías and we met her thanks to the editing service that our agency offers. She had already published a first novel but, a good sportsperson, she was aware of the fact that being a writer requires professionality, training and learning so she asked for a professional reading and an editing for this novel which was published yesterday by Planeta: LA ÚLTIMA PALOMA. In order to recommend the representation of a manuscript, the editing team needs to be certain that an author is worthy, and this was the case. It happens so rarely that we read immediately when they let us know and Berta, my sister who you already know and who had been an editor long before becoming an agent, noticed something special in Men, something that would hook the readers and told me not to let this opportunity pass. While reading her, Berta had a similar feeling to what she felt when she read the manuscript by Dolores Redondo and that she felt this could be bestseller. So, we didn’t give it a second thought and we offered her to join the SB family and, in less than a month, we had already sent the book to Planeta, to Raquel Gisbert, the great discoverer of great works like EL TIEMPO ENTRE COSTURAS or LA CIUDAD BLANCA. It’s the perfect combo. After an impressive work by Raquel’s team, with Zoa Canovas leading it, among others who have helped perfect this project, yesterday we were the happy witnesses of the publication of a book that will certainly become a HUGE SUCCESS.

So, I can only ask for one thing. READ IT and let me know what you think. Meet sergeant Patria Santiago and dive into the Rota naval base where, behind the police cordon there is a brutal scene and a group of neighbors who claim for justice: the body of Diana Buffet lays terribly mutilated and with huge wings sown to her back. Neither the cameras nor the surveillance helicopter have filmed a single image that could e useful for the investigation: something which is unbelievable. Sergeant Patria Santiago knows that the killer will strike again, but nobody believes her, not even the corporal Sacha Santos, (who would love to be something more than her colleague) who thinks, like the rest of Rota, that Patria has undergone pain far too long to be trustworthy. There is just one clue, the research that Diana was conducting about the base and its connection with the disappearance of a young girl seventy years before, when the Americans arrived in Rota seem to be the only threads.

Only those who have experienced the pain can face such a macabre crime

I am sure that Men’s voice won’t leave anyone indifferent, and the plot will keep you hooked until the very end.