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Far
In a housing development in the middle of the nowhere, one of the many that were built in Spain, but never finished because of the crash, la small community of neighbours, trying to lead a normal life, despite living far from everything. Beyond the development that promised every luxury, beyond the streets leading nowhere, behind a high metal fence, the unfinished houses menace the inhabitants as they become occupied by people on the fringes of society whom the crash has destroyed.
Rosa Ribas’s unnamed protagonists come from different sides of this fence. The atmospheric, disturbing, and addictive story of their growing relationship is half quirky love story half strong commentary on how easily and quickly people can fall through the cracks of society. Although the message is entirely universal, the context is deliciously and uniquely Spanish.
Rosa Ribas’s unnamed protagonists come from different sides of this fence. The atmospheric, disturbing, and addictive story of their growing relationship is half quirky love story half strong commentary on how easily and quickly people can fall through the cracks of society. Although the message is entirely universal, the context is deliciously and uniquely Spanish.
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Published July 16, 2024
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About the author
Rosa Ribas
50 books83 followersAka Sara Moliner with Sabine Hofmann
Rosa Ribas Moliné nació en 1963 en El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona. Estudió Filología Hispánica en la Universidad de Barcelona, en la que se doctoró con una tesis sobre los viajeros alemanes a América en los siglos XVI y XVII, publicada en el año 2005.
Desde 1991 reside en Alemania, en Fráncfort del Meno.
Entre 1995 y 2005 fue lectora de español en el Instituto de Lenguas y Literaturas Románicas de la Universidad de Fráncfort, donde desarrolló una intensa actividad docente e investigadora en los campos de la lingüística aplicada y la didáctica de la lengua, fruto de la cual son numerosos artículos y el manual ¿Cómo corregir errores y no equivocarse en el intento?, escrito en colaboración con Alessandra d’Aquino Hilt.
En 2005 comienza su a trabajar como profesora titular de Estudios Hispánicos Aplicados en la Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas de Heilbronn; puesto que abandona en 2008 para dedicarse de lleno a la escritura.
Su primera novela, El pintor de Flandes, se publica en 2006; es una novela histórica ambientada en el Madrid del siglo XVII e inspirada en el cuadro "La degollación de San Juan Bautista" atribuido a Bartholomäus Strobel, que se encuentra en el Museo del Prado.
Con Entre dos aguas en 2007 inició la saga protagonizada por la comisaria hispano-alemana Cornelia Weber-Tejedor, cuya acción tiene lugar en Fráncfort. La segunda novela de la serie, Con anuncio, fue publicada en 2009. La tercera, En caída libre, se publica en 2011. La serie ha sido traducida al alemán, con una gran acogida por parte del público.
La detective miope, ve la luz en 2010; es su cuarta novela y recoge las peripecias de una investigadora, Irene Ricart, que acaba de salir de un hospital psiquiátrico, donde estuvo ingresada a causa del shock producido por el asesinato de su marido y su hija. En el hospital ha desarrollado una teoría, basada en la teoría de los "6 grados de separación", a partir de la cual quiere descubrir al asesino de su familia.
Además de su labor como traductora, colabora como editora y lectora para la editorial alemana Edition Reichenberger.
source: http://escritoras.com/escritoras/Rosa...
Rosa Ribas Moliné nació en 1963 en El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona. Estudió Filología Hispánica en la Universidad de Barcelona, en la que se doctoró con una tesis sobre los viajeros alemanes a América en los siglos XVI y XVII, publicada en el año 2005.
Desde 1991 reside en Alemania, en Fráncfort del Meno.
Entre 1995 y 2005 fue lectora de español en el Instituto de Lenguas y Literaturas Románicas de la Universidad de Fráncfort, donde desarrolló una intensa actividad docente e investigadora en los campos de la lingüística aplicada y la didáctica de la lengua, fruto de la cual son numerosos artículos y el manual ¿Cómo corregir errores y no equivocarse en el intento?, escrito en colaboración con Alessandra d’Aquino Hilt.
En 2005 comienza su a trabajar como profesora titular de Estudios Hispánicos Aplicados en la Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas de Heilbronn; puesto que abandona en 2008 para dedicarse de lleno a la escritura.
Su primera novela, El pintor de Flandes, se publica en 2006; es una novela histórica ambientada en el Madrid del siglo XVII e inspirada en el cuadro "La degollación de San Juan Bautista" atribuido a Bartholomäus Strobel, que se encuentra en el Museo del Prado.
Con Entre dos aguas en 2007 inició la saga protagonizada por la comisaria hispano-alemana Cornelia Weber-Tejedor, cuya acción tiene lugar en Fráncfort. La segunda novela de la serie, Con anuncio, fue publicada en 2009. La tercera, En caída libre, se publica en 2011. La serie ha sido traducida al alemán, con una gran acogida por parte del público.
La detective miope, ve la luz en 2010; es su cuarta novela y recoge las peripecias de una investigadora, Irene Ricart, que acaba de salir de un hospital psiquiátrico, donde estuvo ingresada a causa del shock producido por el asesinato de su marido y su hija. En el hospital ha desarrollado una teoría, basada en la teoría de los "6 grados de separación", a partir de la cual quiere descubrir al asesino de su familia.
Además de su labor como traductora, colabora como editora y lectora para la editorial alemana Edition Reichenberger.
source: http://escritoras.com/escritoras/Rosa...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
April 28, 2022
No es como se pretender vender una novela negra, como la serie de Cornelia Weber, esta vez Rosa Ribas, con su acostumbrada maestría nos trae una novela que yo calificaría de narrativa contemporánea, con momentos y situaciones inquietantes y unos personajes perfectamente definidos, solitarios, abandonados por las circunstancias de la vida y encerrados en una claustrofóbica urbanización pretendidamente de lujo que fue abandonada sin terminar por el promotor, engañando a los incautos que buscaban un lugar entre la ciudad y el campo y gozar de ambas vidas.
Poco a poco y avanzando en la relación de los tres personajes principales que van dejando de lado su soledad para encontrar a esas personas que llegan a ser tan importantes en su vida y les harán ver que la vida ofrece oportunidades y abandonar ese lugar inhóspito. Un final que me ha sorprendido muy gratamente, aunque la novela se me ha hecho corta, pero lo que quiere contar Rosa Ribas se condensa perfectamente en esas pocas páginas, lo que me demuestra que es la magnífica escritora que tanto me gusta.
Poco a poco y avanzando en la relación de los tres personajes principales que van dejando de lado su soledad para encontrar a esas personas que llegan a ser tan importantes en su vida y les harán ver que la vida ofrece oportunidades y abandonar ese lugar inhóspito. Un final que me ha sorprendido muy gratamente, aunque la novela se me ha hecho corta, pero lo que quiere contar Rosa Ribas se condensa perfectamente en esas pocas páginas, lo que me demuestra que es la magnífica escritora que tanto me gusta.
February 21, 2025
A Monument to Failure
Seventeen years ago, the author Rosa Ribas was taken by friends to visit a strange monument to a broken era, Seseña, a housing development known as 'The Manhattan of La Mancha'. Built in 2008, it was designed to house 40,000 people in 13,500 affordable apartments - a ready made settlement emerging from the dust-bowls of remote farmland 40 kilometres from Madrid. It now looked something like between an eerie ghost town and an abandoned building site.
One representation of many, it was a stark reminder of a housing bubble, burst by a rampant, unchecked building boom bust, and a global financial crisis that created an unprecedented unemployment rate and deepest economic recession Spain had experienced for years.
Holding On to Threads
As night fell and three lights came, the realisation that they were the only people living there spawned the idea for a novel, Lejos in Spanish, now translated by Charlotte Coombe into English, brought to us by a wonderful new imprint Foundry Editions born out of a love of these three things:
Far
I loved this novel, it is evocative of this semi-abandoned place, it depicts a demarcation between the legals and the illegals, the rightful inhabitants and the opportunistic outsiders, the followers of rules, those that want to make their own, and those that fall into the cracks.
The entrance to the development still shows billboards offering apartments for sale, the middle one depicting the fugitive developer Fernando Pacheco in his suit and tie, the others depicting scenes of golfing, swimming pools and cocktails, a far cry from the reality within which they sat.
An Element of Noir, Foretold
The opening lines of Far stayed with me for the entire novel, they foreshadow the dénouement, a future turning point, that could even be the beginning of a follow up novel. For me it was a delightfully transgressive ending that I wasn't even looking for, it arrived abruptly, though more regular readers of noir fiction might have seen it coming.
The Lost and Fallen
We meet two unnamed characters, the first is the man we meet walking across that unconsecrated ground. He has just walked out of his office, his job, his life and is looking for a temporary refuge, when he remembers this place, this lost dream of many that one of his colleagues bought into. He needs to stay in hiding and at first is vigilant in keeping away from others, but the forced isolation and the desolate nature of the place loosen his discipline and he makes a friend in an older widower, Matias.
The second character is a woman living in one of the villas alone. Experiencing a double abandonment, she is sticking it out, she works from home and writes the minutes of the resident's association meetings. Since the realisation that the development had truly been abandoned, the association had turned its focus onto other items.
Hegemons Harmony Hampered
In this place that promised a kind of utopia, those that bought into it begin to realise that they have become neighbours with the marginalised, as the unfinished houses become occupied by people in equally difficult, but entirely different circumstances and they don't like it. They begin to obsess over it, becoming paranoid, arguing about whether to call the police or take care of things themselves.
The destruction of their fantasy, the deterioration of an imagined life, of people's mental states and even their physical states, emulates the disintegration of the country's economic situation, that contributed to the depth of suffering inflicted on the population, as millions of jobs were lost and opportunities for youth disappeared, creating a surge in racism and xenophobia.
Light Always Illuminates
And there, amid the chaos, insecurity and fear, unlikely friendships and connections develop, between the man and the widower on the unfinished side of the settlement, and the woman from the deteriorating utopia on the other side.
Brilliantly told, infused with sardonic humour, it is a disturbing yet revelatory tale of what happens when severe change arrives unbidden and the effect it has on the 'haves,' the 'have-nots' and those that fall through the cracks in between.
Highly Recommended.
Seventeen years ago, the author Rosa Ribas was taken by friends to visit a strange monument to a broken era, Seseña, a housing development known as 'The Manhattan of La Mancha'. Built in 2008, it was designed to house 40,000 people in 13,500 affordable apartments - a ready made settlement emerging from the dust-bowls of remote farmland 40 kilometres from Madrid. It now looked something like between an eerie ghost town and an abandoned building site.
One representation of many, it was a stark reminder of a housing bubble, burst by a rampant, unchecked building boom bust, and a global financial crisis that created an unprecedented unemployment rate and deepest economic recession Spain had experienced for years.
“When you walked around, you’d see the blocks where people were living, the blocks that were semi-inhabited, and then all the skeletons of buildings in different stages of completion,” she said. “From one day to the next, they told the workers not to come back the following day. And it all stayed like that.”
Holding On to Threads
As night fell and three lights came, the realisation that they were the only people living there spawned the idea for a novel, Lejos in Spanish, now translated by Charlotte Coombe into English, brought to us by a wonderful new imprint Foundry Editions born out of a love of these three things:
a love for discovering and sharing new voices, a love for the Mediterranean and the people and lands that surround it, and a love of internationalism and reading across borders.
Far
I loved this novel, it is evocative of this semi-abandoned place, it depicts a demarcation between the legals and the illegals, the rightful inhabitants and the opportunistic outsiders, the followers of rules, those that want to make their own, and those that fall into the cracks.
The entire development was constructed on a pile of poorly concealed sleaze, a chain of bribery, corruption, intimidation, and complicit silences. No ancient manuscripts, no mythical foundations. If these lands had been the scene of some momentous event, back when battles of conquest and reconquest were being fought all over the area, no one had bothered to record it. It was a bleak place, devoid of stories, where it was impossible to satisfy any yearnings for greatness.
The entrance to the development still shows billboards offering apartments for sale, the middle one depicting the fugitive developer Fernando Pacheco in his suit and tie, the others depicting scenes of golfing, swimming pools and cocktails, a far cry from the reality within which they sat.
An Element of Noir, Foretold
The opening lines of Far stayed with me for the entire novel, they foreshadow the dénouement, a future turning point, that could even be the beginning of a follow up novel. For me it was a delightfully transgressive ending that I wasn't even looking for, it arrived abruptly, though more regular readers of noir fiction might have seen it coming.
That night, he had no idea he was walking over a cemetery. A secret cemetery with no gravestones or crosses, and only two dead bodies. There would be three by the time he left.
The Lost and Fallen
We meet two unnamed characters, the first is the man we meet walking across that unconsecrated ground. He has just walked out of his office, his job, his life and is looking for a temporary refuge, when he remembers this place, this lost dream of many that one of his colleagues bought into. He needs to stay in hiding and at first is vigilant in keeping away from others, but the forced isolation and the desolate nature of the place loosen his discipline and he makes a friend in an older widower, Matias.
The second character is a woman living in one of the villas alone. Experiencing a double abandonment, she is sticking it out, she works from home and writes the minutes of the resident's association meetings. Since the realisation that the development had truly been abandoned, the association had turned its focus onto other items.
Then, given the inhospitable environment, efforts became focused on the interior, on the decor of the apartments and villas.
And on the "dignification" of the settlement. Swept pavements, manicured gardens. Being dressed properly in the street.
"So, no more going out in your dressing gown to buy bread," said Sergio Morales, the chairman of the residents' association, at one of their meetings, in that jocular tone which often masks inconvenient or ridiculous orders.
Hegemons Harmony Hampered
In this place that promised a kind of utopia, those that bought into it begin to realise that they have become neighbours with the marginalised, as the unfinished houses become occupied by people in equally difficult, but entirely different circumstances and they don't like it. They begin to obsess over it, becoming paranoid, arguing about whether to call the police or take care of things themselves.
The destruction of their fantasy, the deterioration of an imagined life, of people's mental states and even their physical states, emulates the disintegration of the country's economic situation, that contributed to the depth of suffering inflicted on the population, as millions of jobs were lost and opportunities for youth disappeared, creating a surge in racism and xenophobia.
Light Always Illuminates
And there, amid the chaos, insecurity and fear, unlikely friendships and connections develop, between the man and the widower on the unfinished side of the settlement, and the woman from the deteriorating utopia on the other side.
Brilliantly told, infused with sardonic humour, it is a disturbing yet revelatory tale of what happens when severe change arrives unbidden and the effect it has on the 'haves,' the 'have-nots' and those that fall through the cracks in between.
Highly Recommended.
April 10, 2025
This beautifully paced novel is about a gated community in Spain, but the housing development has run out of money midway through the build. So there are residents on one side of the fence who live almost like the developers intended, and then there are those who live on the other side of the fence in the abandoned half-built houses and streets.
Both groups are trapped in one way or another. Those in the finished houses have bought into a house, a community, a lifestyle that stifles in its intended uniformity. They are trapped by capitalism, with their mortgages on houses that are now worth way less than they paid for. And they are trapped into living alongside neighbours who maybe don’t share the exact same opinions. Such as how they view those who live on the other side of the fence...
In the undeveloped, unfinished neighbourhood the abandoned half-houses are inhabited by a range of people on the run from one thing or another. Squatting as a way to hide whilst also finding their own community. But these people are also trapped - deemed to live a life in the shadows, always on the lookout for those they have run away from and those who are now unhappy with them being there.
The writing and translation in this novel is beautiful. The pacing slowly ramps up the tension without it ever becoming an unbelievable schlocky thriller. And the characters are enigmatic and mysterious in a way that gave the whole book a feeling of being just slightly out of reach.
Both groups are trapped in one way or another. Those in the finished houses have bought into a house, a community, a lifestyle that stifles in its intended uniformity. They are trapped by capitalism, with their mortgages on houses that are now worth way less than they paid for. And they are trapped into living alongside neighbours who maybe don’t share the exact same opinions. Such as how they view those who live on the other side of the fence...
In the undeveloped, unfinished neighbourhood the abandoned half-houses are inhabited by a range of people on the run from one thing or another. Squatting as a way to hide whilst also finding their own community. But these people are also trapped - deemed to live a life in the shadows, always on the lookout for those they have run away from and those who are now unhappy with them being there.
The writing and translation in this novel is beautiful. The pacing slowly ramps up the tension without it ever becoming an unbelievable schlocky thriller. And the characters are enigmatic and mysterious in a way that gave the whole book a feeling of being just slightly out of reach.
August 6, 2023
"Nada ata tanto como las promesas hechas a los muertos, era cruel negarle esa promesa a Matías, pero la parte de él que siempre había sido cruel había tomado la palabra."
Bueno, reposada esta historia, algo que me gusta hacer a menudo para analizar lo que me han aportado mis lecturas, me dispongo a escribir mi reseña sobre "Lejos" de Rosa Ribas.
La historia gira alrededor de un proyecto de urbanización ambicioso en medio de la nada y digo proyecto porque, aunque se han construido casas y chalés con jardín y piscina, en la otra parte de la urbanización, a las afueras, hay pisos y viviendas sin terminar, a medio construir y de las que se han adueñado los okupas, aquellos que se dejan ver poco, que se atreven a salir de noche, cuando los demás duermen.
Dentro de "los colonos" está una mujer recién separada, una mujer que necesita salir a la calle, que le gusta hacer running por las calles de la urbanización. También, del otro lado, hay un hombre con secretos y que decide adueñarse de un piso cerca de Matías, un jubilado que perdió a su mujer y que acabó enterrando en el cementerio del pueblo.
Entre dicha mujer y el "okupa", en una de esas salidas de ella, hay un cruce de miradas y el avivamiento de algo que nadie es capaz de entender. Nadie puede juntarse con ellos, con los apestados, con los que han venido aquí a adueñarse de lo que no es suyo. Se ven de noche, evitando a los demás, con miedo a ser descubiertos.
Hasta aquí todo genial, pero a pesar de ser una historia original y diferente, por momentos me he perdido mucho, algo que me hacía volver hacia atrás para recuperar la trama. No sé si por la manera de escribir de la autora o por la trama en sí. Aún y así, "Lejos" es una novela adictiva y que va bien para pasar un rato agradable de lectura veraniega.
MI PUNTUACIÓN: 6/10
Bueno, reposada esta historia, algo que me gusta hacer a menudo para analizar lo que me han aportado mis lecturas, me dispongo a escribir mi reseña sobre "Lejos" de Rosa Ribas.
La historia gira alrededor de un proyecto de urbanización ambicioso en medio de la nada y digo proyecto porque, aunque se han construido casas y chalés con jardín y piscina, en la otra parte de la urbanización, a las afueras, hay pisos y viviendas sin terminar, a medio construir y de las que se han adueñado los okupas, aquellos que se dejan ver poco, que se atreven a salir de noche, cuando los demás duermen.
Dentro de "los colonos" está una mujer recién separada, una mujer que necesita salir a la calle, que le gusta hacer running por las calles de la urbanización. También, del otro lado, hay un hombre con secretos y que decide adueñarse de un piso cerca de Matías, un jubilado que perdió a su mujer y que acabó enterrando en el cementerio del pueblo.
Entre dicha mujer y el "okupa", en una de esas salidas de ella, hay un cruce de miradas y el avivamiento de algo que nadie es capaz de entender. Nadie puede juntarse con ellos, con los apestados, con los que han venido aquí a adueñarse de lo que no es suyo. Se ven de noche, evitando a los demás, con miedo a ser descubiertos.
Hasta aquí todo genial, pero a pesar de ser una historia original y diferente, por momentos me he perdido mucho, algo que me hacía volver hacia atrás para recuperar la trama. No sé si por la manera de escribir de la autora o por la trama en sí. Aún y así, "Lejos" es una novela adictiva y que va bien para pasar un rato agradable de lectura veraniega.
MI PUNTUACIÓN: 6/10
September 11, 2023
Ainda que ligeiramente inverosímil, a narrativa de Rosa Ribas “coloca o dedo na ferida” relativamente a vários assuntos que “assombram” Espanha- as urbanizações “fantasma” que iam povoando a paisagem, devido à crise do subprime, os “ocupas”, que continuam a estar na ordem do dia, a estratificação da sociedade, entre outros,
Com uma escrita ritmada e numa toada melancólica (ainda que possa parecer um contra-senso), “Lejos” é de leitura fácil, apoiada por personagens bem caracterizados e com um desfecho previsível mas agradável.
A ler.
Com uma escrita ritmada e numa toada melancólica (ainda que possa parecer um contra-senso), “Lejos” é de leitura fácil, apoiada por personagens bem caracterizados e com um desfecho previsível mas agradável.
A ler.
August 30, 2024
Deceptively simple, atmospheric and carried me along
October 26, 2025
A ghost estate in the middle of nowhere, 70km from Madrid, likely based on Seseña. This is not a new concept to those Irish readers among us who don't have to travel too far to find the evidence of how we lost the run of ourselves during the boom years aka The Celtic Tiger, but I never actually considered that we weren't the only ones.
Something we've been remarking on recently is how, for some people, dystopia is here and now, be it living in the reality of climate change, grappling with the ethical quandries of tech and AI, or, as in this case, dwelling in what would appear to many to be a post apocalypse environment.
This is a story of people who live in liminal spaces, those who have slipped between the cracks for economic reasons, for social reasons, for criminal reasons. It is wonderfully atmospheric and the sense of abandonment and loneliness leaks from the page. Ribas fully engages with the absurdities of modern life making this a curious blend of silent thriller, black comedy and gritty pulp fiction.
This is my third from Foundry Editions, a new press which is focusing on works in translation from around the Mediterranean. I like this a lot, it deserves more praise than it's GR reading rating implies.
Something we've been remarking on recently is how, for some people, dystopia is here and now, be it living in the reality of climate change, grappling with the ethical quandries of tech and AI, or, as in this case, dwelling in what would appear to many to be a post apocalypse environment.
This is a story of people who live in liminal spaces, those who have slipped between the cracks for economic reasons, for social reasons, for criminal reasons. It is wonderfully atmospheric and the sense of abandonment and loneliness leaks from the page. Ribas fully engages with the absurdities of modern life making this a curious blend of silent thriller, black comedy and gritty pulp fiction.
This is my third from Foundry Editions, a new press which is focusing on works in translation from around the Mediterranean. I like this a lot, it deserves more praise than it's GR reading rating implies.
May 10, 2022
Un poco lenta, pero con un final sorprendente.
October 26, 2025
I really enjoyed this well structured and well written novel with a few twists and not quite the outcome you expect. I understand this is Ribas's first novel. As such it is an achievement.
It is set in a large building development that has gone bust. I have seen one of these in Poland, but read or seen pictures of them in Spain, China and Turkey. They seem to be a modern world phenomena. This setting creates a natural tension as on this building development are people who have bought their, now largely worthless, homes and live there. They share the space with other buildings in various states of completion, mostly incomplete. These other buildings are either empty or inhabited by the homeless and those who for one reason or another are hiding away. A little way away from this development is a town that has been there for a while. So there are three communities: those from the town, the new settlers in their new homes, and the illegal inhabitants of the uncompleted buildings.
Ribas creates a believable story of the tensions of the petit bourgeois, desperately trying to make a life as settlers, their hatred of the illegals and desire for acceptance by the original town dwellers. Into this setting she projects a set of characters and the specific story.
I found the start a little slow (hence 4, but probably more like 4.5 if I could), but then suddenly the storyline changes. You expect a change, as the tension has built up to this point. She handles this very well. It is an enjoyable and rewarding story.
Overall, a pleasurable novel to read and I will certainly look out for more writing by Rosa Ribas.
It is set in a large building development that has gone bust. I have seen one of these in Poland, but read or seen pictures of them in Spain, China and Turkey. They seem to be a modern world phenomena. This setting creates a natural tension as on this building development are people who have bought their, now largely worthless, homes and live there. They share the space with other buildings in various states of completion, mostly incomplete. These other buildings are either empty or inhabited by the homeless and those who for one reason or another are hiding away. A little way away from this development is a town that has been there for a while. So there are three communities: those from the town, the new settlers in their new homes, and the illegal inhabitants of the uncompleted buildings.
Ribas creates a believable story of the tensions of the petit bourgeois, desperately trying to make a life as settlers, their hatred of the illegals and desire for acceptance by the original town dwellers. Into this setting she projects a set of characters and the specific story.
I found the start a little slow (hence 4, but probably more like 4.5 if I could), but then suddenly the storyline changes. You expect a change, as the tension has built up to this point. She handles this very well. It is an enjoyable and rewarding story.
Overall, a pleasurable novel to read and I will certainly look out for more writing by Rosa Ribas.
June 10, 2022
Lo siento pero he sido incapaz de seguir leyendo . He acabado el capítulo 10 y no he podido más. No entiendo nada. Suelo acabar todos los libros que empiezo pero este no he podido. Repito lo siento
January 16, 2026
I wanted to choose a book in translation for my book group, and this came to the top of the heap … mainly because it is short :) I’d really wanted to pick an Almudena Grandes, but we’ve read a couple of heavy books recently and her novels are long and complex.
I favoured this because of the setting: an unfinished urbanización miles from anywhere. Almost every Spanish town of any size has one of these, a remnant of the pre-2008 housing bubble. It’s a great setting for a story with a heterogeneous cast of characters — here, the social strata of the luxury villa dwellers, the less well off in their terraced houses or flats, and the squatters in the abandoned half-finished blocks fenced off from the legal inhabitants. Everyone is trapped: the legal residents because they are weighed down with mortgage debt that is far more than the current value of their house, the squatters mostly because they are hiding from someone or something. The residents are mocked daily by the billboards at the entrance depicting golf, swimming pools, spas, luxury shops … none of this has materialised, and the developer has fled abroad.
The main protagonists are unnamed: a recently divorced woman living in the “legal” part and working from home as a software developer, and a man running away from some botched criminal activity with a bag of money (we never know exactly what was involved). All the other characters have names, and I couldn’t understand why they don’t— perhaps to emphasise their isolation and inability to fit in. The 200 or so residents are desperate to maintain standards (no going out to the corner shop in your dressing gown!) and also the social hierarchy in the residents’ association. The squatters are just trying to survive in squalid conditions and avoid detection.
Ribas’s style is plain and unliterary, so it's a quick and easy read (I had no problem understanding the Spanish version). It’s fair to say not much happens in the first half of the book. I expected it to develop the back story of the man, and what he’s fleeing from, but no. It’s all about establishing the environment and the strains within the community, with implied social critique. Things do start to move once the protagonists finally meet, and a crisis is reached when the residents hold a summer party and a squatter child is discovered eating a slice of tortilla. The horror! Bring on a torch-wielding mob! I have to say the “love story” felt a bit cheesy and predictable, but the story didn’t end as I was expecting it to, even with the hint in the opening lines.
Verdict: an undemanding read, mostly made interesting by the setting and, of course, the tension between insiders/outsiders and haves/have nots that is sadly relevant today. Although some reviewers say the idea is original, there is another novel with this setting: Catherine O’Flynn’s Mr Lynch's Holiday, which I absolutely loved, and would recommend over this.
I favoured this because of the setting: an unfinished urbanización miles from anywhere. Almost every Spanish town of any size has one of these, a remnant of the pre-2008 housing bubble. It’s a great setting for a story with a heterogeneous cast of characters — here, the social strata of the luxury villa dwellers, the less well off in their terraced houses or flats, and the squatters in the abandoned half-finished blocks fenced off from the legal inhabitants. Everyone is trapped: the legal residents because they are weighed down with mortgage debt that is far more than the current value of their house, the squatters mostly because they are hiding from someone or something. The residents are mocked daily by the billboards at the entrance depicting golf, swimming pools, spas, luxury shops … none of this has materialised, and the developer has fled abroad.
The main protagonists are unnamed: a recently divorced woman living in the “legal” part and working from home as a software developer, and a man running away from some botched criminal activity with a bag of money (we never know exactly what was involved). All the other characters have names, and I couldn’t understand why they don’t— perhaps to emphasise their isolation and inability to fit in. The 200 or so residents are desperate to maintain standards (no going out to the corner shop in your dressing gown!) and also the social hierarchy in the residents’ association. The squatters are just trying to survive in squalid conditions and avoid detection.
Ribas’s style is plain and unliterary, so it's a quick and easy read (I had no problem understanding the Spanish version). It’s fair to say not much happens in the first half of the book. I expected it to develop the back story of the man, and what he’s fleeing from, but no. It’s all about establishing the environment and the strains within the community, with implied social critique. Things do start to move once the protagonists finally meet, and a crisis is reached when the residents hold a summer party and a squatter child is discovered eating a slice of tortilla. The horror! Bring on a torch-wielding mob! I have to say the “love story” felt a bit cheesy and predictable, but the story didn’t end as I was expecting it to, even with the hint in the opening lines.
Verdict: an undemanding read, mostly made interesting by the setting and, of course, the tension between insiders/outsiders and haves/have nots that is sadly relevant today. Although some reviewers say the idea is original, there is another novel with this setting: Catherine O’Flynn’s Mr Lynch's Holiday, which I absolutely loved, and would recommend over this.
October 15, 2024
In one of Spain’s many remote, half-finished housing developments, two people meet - two people from either side of the fence which divides the residents from the “undesirables” in the abandoned half…
On one hand this is a story of a relationship between two people, on the other it’s a sweeping social critique of post-GFC Spain. With a decent pace, compulsive writing and a dual POV, it was quite hard to put down as I kept wanting to read just another couple of pages…
Against the backdrop of the desolation wreaked by the GFC in Spain, Ribas perfectly encapsulates attitudes towards those living on the margins of society and the us vs them mentality of those who don’t. With their financial assets tied up in now-worthless houses, the development’s official residents are all pretty much stuck there and the way they desperately cling to any shred of power that allows them to feel remotely superior to those on the other side of the fence is very well depicted.
The end did take a rather dramatic turn and I wasn’t sold on the practicalities, but it was an enjoyable read, if slightly bonkers at times.
An atmospheric, lively story of connection, social power imbalances and living on the margins of society in the desolation of post-GFC Spain.
On one hand this is a story of a relationship between two people, on the other it’s a sweeping social critique of post-GFC Spain. With a decent pace, compulsive writing and a dual POV, it was quite hard to put down as I kept wanting to read just another couple of pages…
Against the backdrop of the desolation wreaked by the GFC in Spain, Ribas perfectly encapsulates attitudes towards those living on the margins of society and the us vs them mentality of those who don’t. With their financial assets tied up in now-worthless houses, the development’s official residents are all pretty much stuck there and the way they desperately cling to any shred of power that allows them to feel remotely superior to those on the other side of the fence is very well depicted.
The end did take a rather dramatic turn and I wasn’t sold on the practicalities, but it was an enjoyable read, if slightly bonkers at times.
An atmospheric, lively story of connection, social power imbalances and living on the margins of society in the desolation of post-GFC Spain.
September 27, 2024
Un barrio disgregado en donde habitan los "colonos" y los "okupas" Están los que tienen una casa bonita con jardín y los que se amontonan en las últimas viviendas, las más alejadas, las que quedaron a medio camino en un ambicioso proyecto de construcción. Se miran pero no se mezclan. Hasta que una mujer y un hombre cruzan miradas. Ella pertenece a la "comunidad" y él se metió en una de esas construcciones abandonadas para esconderse. Sin nombres y sin pasado se atreven a traspasar esa barrera que impusieron los demás para abstraerse del mundo y encerrarse en su propia burbuja de concreto. Interesante novela con un final un poco caótico... pero se deja leer.
November 7, 2024
Lo he devorado, es muy rápido y fácil de leer. Me ha encantado descubrir una historia con un trasfondo de crítica social oculta en una supuesta historia de amor. Es magistral como Rosa Ribas utiliza una situación micro para describir cómo funcionamos a nivel macro. El forjar comunidad a raíz de la creación de un enemigo común al que echar la culpa de nuestras desgracias, la necesidad de crear vínculos sinceros, el miedo a la soledad, la crisis económica en la vida de personas de clase social muy distinta… me ha sorprendido muchísimo.
June 20, 2022
Una novela oscura, sobria, con pocos personajes bien dibujados, en un escenario de urbanización mesetaria inacabada que recuerda el Far West
September 19, 2024
Very clean, very vivid, all too real?
October 7, 2024
Un libro interesante, describe los miedos de lo seres humanos que llegan a convertirse en pánico hacia ls demás,.
Muy bien escrito y buen desarrollo de la trama, a mi me parece muy descriptivos los tiempos.
Muy bien escrito y buen desarrollo de la trama, a mi me parece muy descriptivos los tiempos.
May 12, 2024
Nunca encontré la esencia de la historia.
September 28, 2023
No és el millor llibre de la Rosa Ribas. Potser perquè el veritable protagonista no és cap personatge sinó l'espai on succeeix la trama. Però m'ha agradat.
June 7, 2022
Bien escrito pero no he llegado a entrar en la historia... Me parece que tiene bastante trasfondo pero se hace algo plano.
August 6, 2025
A wonderful slice of Spanish existential storytelling. Charlotte Coombe's translation is a revelation; incredibly accessible, easy to read and almost cinematically evocative, the balance of slow normality in an unassuming dystopia and creeping, gnawing anxiety is fully achieved. The characters are distinct and fulsome, the atmosphere dark and low-key hopeless. It's a gripping and, to my mind original check of end-point capitalism, written in an instantly recognisable way.
It loses its balance slightly in the final third. The romance between the two protagonists feels a bit forced, and given that it's only 260-odd pages long, we don't get any real depth of feeling. While the unnamed male protagonist is constantly haunted by his past, we never really get the denouement that the novel seems to be leading up to. In some ways, there's a lacklustre sense of unfinished business.
But maybe that's the point. Ribas often returns to the idea that the characters' pasts don't matter; the fact that the central figure's life never really catches up with him and is able to move on is fairly well presented.
All in all, this is a gorgeous book about relationships, attitudes and desperation across societal divides, and a gorgeously gripping one throughout.
It loses its balance slightly in the final third. The romance between the two protagonists feels a bit forced, and given that it's only 260-odd pages long, we don't get any real depth of feeling. While the unnamed male protagonist is constantly haunted by his past, we never really get the denouement that the novel seems to be leading up to. In some ways, there's a lacklustre sense of unfinished business.
But maybe that's the point. Ribas often returns to the idea that the characters' pasts don't matter; the fact that the central figure's life never really catches up with him and is able to move on is fairly well presented.
All in all, this is a gorgeous book about relationships, attitudes and desperation across societal divides, and a gorgeously gripping one throughout.
October 17, 2022
He descubierto a Rosa Ribas con esta novela y me ha encantado su estilo. La narración es muy ágil, con capítulos cortos, precisos y entreverados de imágenes que te trasladan a lo que están viviendo los personajes de manera magistral. Conocemos sus universos muy de cerca y, a pesar de ello, es un libro en el que cabe el asombro porque lo que va sucediendo encaja y sorprende a la vez, especialmente el final. Hay misterio, suspense, dos mundos enfrentados y dos personajes atrapados en ellos.
Me ha llamado mucho la atención cómo trata Rosa el escenario y la ambientación en una urbanización a medio construir en el paisaje de meseta. El ambiente decadente y salvaje en cierto modo acompaña la evolución de los personajes y refleja sus emociones a la perfección.
Es un libro de acción, pintado en los tonos ocres de las aventuras del oeste, nada de colores pastel. Y, sin embargo, eso no evita que te encariñes con los personajes. Sin duda, una lectura rápida y profunda al mismo tiempo, ¡muy recomendable!
Me ha llamado mucho la atención cómo trata Rosa el escenario y la ambientación en una urbanización a medio construir en el paisaje de meseta. El ambiente decadente y salvaje en cierto modo acompaña la evolución de los personajes y refleja sus emociones a la perfección.
Es un libro de acción, pintado en los tonos ocres de las aventuras del oeste, nada de colores pastel. Y, sin embargo, eso no evita que te encariñes con los personajes. Sin duda, una lectura rápida y profunda al mismo tiempo, ¡muy recomendable!
June 1, 2025
just a few chapters in and i had a feeling that this would be amazing…. i wasn’t disappointed
it’s one of those books that i really wish i was studying, because there’s just so much to say!! after reading a bit about the author’s inspiration for writing the book and realising it’s based on a real community block that she saw was underdeveloped, i loved the story even more. it’s about capitalism, greed, desperation, classism, and so much more. i quite literally have no one to talk about this with.
despite it being described loosely as a love story, it doesn’t really get into that until over halfway through the book. instead, it builds up immense tension and a great understanding of their situations in life before they meet, and how though they live in different societies, they are both on the outskirts in similar ways. the ending was pure perfection, both literally and symbolically. would give it 6 stars if i could!
it’s one of those books that i really wish i was studying, because there’s just so much to say!! after reading a bit about the author’s inspiration for writing the book and realising it’s based on a real community block that she saw was underdeveloped, i loved the story even more. it’s about capitalism, greed, desperation, classism, and so much more. i quite literally have no one to talk about this with.
despite it being described loosely as a love story, it doesn’t really get into that until over halfway through the book. instead, it builds up immense tension and a great understanding of their situations in life before they meet, and how though they live in different societies, they are both on the outskirts in similar ways. the ending was pure perfection, both literally and symbolically. would give it 6 stars if i could!
August 19, 2025
Enjoyed this Spanish love story/thriller set in an unfinished housing development. Will look out for more of this author's books in translation.
July 21, 2025
Genuinely thought this was going to be one of my favourite books ever. But the ending just did not land. At all.
The tension was built so perfectly and I was devouring every single page to find out how it would culminate.
I want to be that critic who says “maybe that’s the point, it was just a portrait of that particular place” but honestly the writing wasn’t literary enough to warrant that sort of analysis. If you’re going to write a page turning thriller with a murder, just give the audience the jaw dropping twist it deserves
The tension was built so perfectly and I was devouring every single page to find out how it would culminate.
I want to be that critic who says “maybe that’s the point, it was just a portrait of that particular place” but honestly the writing wasn’t literary enough to warrant that sort of analysis. If you’re going to write a page turning thriller with a murder, just give the audience the jaw dropping twist it deserves
July 31, 2023
A pesar de que la novela está bien escrita, no tiene mucha miga. La trama es novedosa pero no acaba de haber nada realmente interesante ni se resuelve lo importante, el tema de la corrupción del protagonista y la bolsa con dinero. En fin, que me deja sin saber muy bien de dónde venía y a donde van...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2024
Una historia aparentemente sencilla, una novela para reflexionar sobre la soledad y para salir de la zona de confort. Tiene sus altibajos en la narración, da la sensación de quedar cabos sueltos.
March 30, 2025
3.5 stars, pulls you along well and very readable but also felt a bit disconnected to the story? Still enjoyed it a lot !
June 9, 2022
A rather eerie book! It takes place in a half-finished development in the middle of nowhere in Spain. The "luxury urbanization" never really materialized after the developer absconded with the funds, and what's left is a mix of sparsely inhabited bungalows, townhomes, and an area of abandoned, unfinished buildings. One of the inhabitants is a recent divorcee who feels alienated from her neighbors in the homeowner's association, and whose main recreation is to go for early morning runs. Into this neighborhood comes an unnamed man, who we learn is on the run from his colleagues, a set of corrupt policemen, after he took some ill-gotten gains and went on the lam.
For almost half of the book, these 2 nameless figures move through the village; the woman becoming more and more estranged from the other inhabitants, and the man as a squatter, first in an empty apartment and then finally into one of the unfinished buildings. Their paths almost cross, they catch glimpses of each other in the twilight, behind fences and buildings, but it takes a long time for them to meet, and develop an attraction. Along the way we meet a couple of other characters, like the wanna-be vigilante German, the self-satisfied homeowner's association president Sergio, and the elderly squatter Matias, who has his own reasons to live in these primitive surroundings.
The book went on at a very leisurely pace, chapter after chapter of two lonely individuals in this eerie landscape (I think the cover picture captured it perfectly). Tension was built up when a clash threatens between the "official" inhabitants and the handful of squatters, hoboes and drifters who make their home behind the fence of the uninhabited zone. The end was a surprise.
So a solid three stars, edging close to 4.
For almost half of the book, these 2 nameless figures move through the village; the woman becoming more and more estranged from the other inhabitants, and the man as a squatter, first in an empty apartment and then finally into one of the unfinished buildings. Their paths almost cross, they catch glimpses of each other in the twilight, behind fences and buildings, but it takes a long time for them to meet, and develop an attraction. Along the way we meet a couple of other characters, like the wanna-be vigilante German, the self-satisfied homeowner's association president Sergio, and the elderly squatter Matias, who has his own reasons to live in these primitive surroundings.
The book went on at a very leisurely pace, chapter after chapter of two lonely individuals in this eerie landscape (I think the cover picture captured it perfectly). Tension was built up when a clash threatens between the "official" inhabitants and the handful of squatters, hoboes and drifters who make their home behind the fence of the uninhabited zone. The end was a surprise.
So a solid three stars, edging close to 4.
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