Novel
Bajo el oscuro sol
Not translated into English
Yolanda Bedregal · 1971
Synopsis
During a revolution, someone who calls herself Loreto rents a room in La Paz; the narrative first withholds her sex, then she describes herself as a woman in her thirties, with no family or friends, and with a past she hides. She crosses a city under arms, returns a wallet to a passer-by, and shelters in a conventillo during a shootout. A stray bullet kills her at her desk, as she begins a letter, and she is entered under a truncated name among thirteen dead. Gabriño, a psychologist and teacher who had treated her, wants to know who she was.
Context
The manuscript received the Erich Guttentag national novel prize in 1970, and the book appeared from Los Amigos del Libro, in La Paz, dated 1970 or 1971 depending on the sources. The narrative is divided into two parts: the life of Loreto in the city in revolution, then the quest of Gabriño through the letters, articles and writings she left behind. The material of the letters owes much to those of Roberto Latorre, a socialist friend of the author, who died in 1949. Augusto Guzmán saw in it a poetic novel, Carlos Castañón Barrientos a novel of suggestions and mystery. Plural reissued it in 2009 in the complete works.
Who it is for
Two hundred and fifty-eight pages in Spanish, with no French translation. A narrative in two parts, the second made up of the letters and writings left by a dead woman.
Prizes and reception
Awarded a national prize even before its publication, and reissued in 2025, more than half a century later.
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