CAT Book Club: After the Winter

Kirkus(opens in a new tab) described After the Winter as “a compassionately written portrait of urban loneliness and the human impulse to belong.” If you’ve read Guadalupe Nettel before, you’ll recognize that these themes of loneliness and belonging course through all of her writing. If you haven’t read her before and are looking for an example of what I’m talking about, check out her story “The Wanderers(opens in a new tab),” translated by Sophie Hughes for Granta. Set in Mexico City, this story features two children who are outcasts in different ways.

Guadalupe Nettel admits to this commonality in her work. In an interview(opens in a new tab) with Brazos Bookstore’s Mark Haber, Nettel elaborated on her desire to write about being “different”:

We are all different. But there are some of us that, for some reason, have suffered time and time again the rejection and prejudices of others. In my case, it all began with a minuscule spot on my cornea from which a cataract detached and from that small “imperfection” a whole experience of life — my mother insisting on correcting my “defects”, other children making fun of me, and a defensive attitude that I built in order to survive that did not seem comprehensible to others. Unfortunately, [this created] the sense of rejection due to our physical or psychological characteristics that I have. However, being aware of my wounds and talking about them, sometimes even being able to laugh at myself, is something that has unleashed my creativity and has inspired me to write many stories about myself but also about other beings with similar experiences. My idea of beauty is founded on this experience, as well as my idea of dignity, integrity and respect.

It is this biographical detail that Nettel often points to in interviews, and her writing does indeed echo this early medical incident, both directly and indirectly. Reflecting on her body of work in Granta(opens in a new tab), Two Lines Press author Santiago Roncagliolo wrote: “One way or another, her novels are always about that eye…”

As we begin reading After the Winter, I want to think about how this novel in particular deals with isolation. I think of Guadalupe Nettel as akin to a painter, ruminating on the same themes time and again, each time through differing modes and colors, creating a body of work that speaks volumes when viewed all at once.

We are excited to be hosting Guadalupe Nettel at Oakland’s East Bay Booksellers this Thursday, September 20, at 7:00 pm for a conversation about After the Winter. Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity!