Some books are moving, some books are funny, some make your stomach turn. Today I bring to you a book that will do all that and more – Lucia Etxebarria’s Un Milagro En Equilibrio (A Miracle in Equilibrium).
First of all – a disclaimer – I am not a mother, only a daughter, so if any of you mothers out there disagree with me on anything – that’s OK. The book’s narrative is quite simple – Eva, a successful yet self-doubting writer, gives birth to a baby girl. She then sits down to write a memoir in which she describes her life before motherhood to her daughter, so as to someday let her know who her mother is, without embellishing the gory stuff.
This is a book that is so real and speaks so much to women of my generation, it sometimes hurts. The brutally frank discussion of the fight to become independent, of the difficulty of leaving your past (and childhood) behind, the ways in which we think of ourselves as feminist, liberated women but sometimes behave like we know nothing about it, and many many more issues are at the heart of what every young career woman out in the dating pool is going through.
The book also offers a poignant look into one of the most complex relationships in nature – the relationship between a mother and her daughter. As one of two sisters growing up with a single mother, this is one subject I can never get enough of, and Etxbarria jumps into it feet first.
All in all, a very refreshing and recommended book, sparing you nothing but still keeping it readable and not too scary. Have fun!
I am leaving you with a song about one of the most (if not the most) iconic mothers – The Beatles’ ” Lady Madonna”:
Like other hoarders, one does not become a story hoarder – one is born that way. Since early childhood I had a deep love for stories and books. My mother says that the only way to make me sit quietly for a few minutes was to read me a story. When I was about four I had a series of children tales in Spanish that I already knew by heart, and I would read them aloud, pretending to read the print, and even turning the pages on cue.
When I started school, a fantastic new world was open to me – the world of books. So many books available, containing fantastic stories! My father, a fellow aficionado, recognized my passion and took me to the public library, and from that day onwards I was the favorite of all the librarians I met. They all let me borrow much more books per week than was allowed, and allowed me to forage into the darkest corners and into “staff only” zones of the library.
As I grew older, I left public libraries behind in favor of a new addiction – the second hand book store. Good second hand book stores give me a rush – the floor-to ceiling shelves packed with books, a real Aladdin’s cave where the strangest, most wonderful books await, make me dizzy with anticipation.
The great thing about thsee cstores is that, unlike chain stores, they don’t rely on a steady stream of books arriving from publishers but on chance and on the specific tastes and whims of the people arriving at their door. Second hand book stores allow you to find books that are out of print, books which nobody heard about but are great, authors you would generally not come across…
This is particularly true for someone living in a non-English speaking country as myself. Although books in English are readily available in any bookstore, most of them tend to have only bestsellers or classics – no surprises there. Buying online is a good solution if you know what you are looking for, but does not provide a good rummaging experience. Only a second hand book store gives you the opportunity to wander around, hunting for something unique, bizzare, interesting and completely new.
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