4b: Colombia 🇨🇴: Holiday Heart by Margarita García Robayo (tr. Charlotte Coombe)

I read this in an evening and an hour this afternoon. What a treat, Robayo’s prose is cutting, sardonic, precise and witty, brilliantly translated by Coombe and another beautiful book from Charco Press.

In a Nutshell:

Lucía and Pablo are a married couple, originally from Colombia they now live in the USA with their twins, Rosa and Tomás. We meet the family just as Pablo is suffering from Holiday Heart Syndrome and Lucia takes the children off to the family’s apartment in Miami, to coincide with the unravelling of the couple’s marriage.

Themes:

Gender, motherhood, identity, racism, the end of love and dis-belonging are all at the heart of this wonderful novel. One of my favourites now.

Quotes:

“Because you sound like one of those women who see motherhood as the primary, hypertrophic drive of female existence.”

“After she gave birth, Lucía expelled all of that false kindness along with the placenta.”

“Latin-Americans and their obsession with being bilingual. Latin Americans and their identity complex.”

“All men- she says, she remembers, she repeats it to herself like a mantra- are united by their infinite capacity to create violence.”

“Because anything to do with the idea of a homeland, or patriotism, is corny to you. Obviously.”

An Observation:

Holiday Heart Syndrome, also known as atrial fibrillation, coined in 1978,  is defined as “abnormal heart rhythms sometimes following excessive alcohol consumption; usually temporary”. Holiday heart syndrome can be the result of stress, dehydration, and drinking alcohol. It is sometimes associated with overindulging/binge drinking common during national holidays.

Stockists:

Want to read Holiday Heart? Buy it here.