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Wishbone
La nueva novela de Laia Jufresa después de
Umami
, que la confirma como una de las mejores escritoras latinoamericanas del momento.
«Todo está vivo en el deslumbrante Wishbone de Laia Jufresa. Personas, objetos y paisajes están igualmente imbuidos de una fuerza que ondula a través de las diversas líneas temporales, conectándonos profundamente con un mundo encantado y desencantado, lleno de personajes inolvidables. Una novela tour de force de una de las voces más cautivadoras y originales de mi generación».
Valeria Luiselli
En Oaxaca, Tor Sima ha creado un museo dedicado al color. En Edimburgo, Vica Luft trabaja como secretaria y cría sola a su hija. Comparten una herida, un amante y una curiosa devoción por los pulpos. Lo que las une no es una anécdota, sino una corriente subterránea que atraviesa años y geografías.
A lo largo de dos décadas y siete ciudades, Wishbone retrocede en el tiempo para indagar en lo que permanece y en lo que se pierde. La maternidad y sus ambivalencias, la amistad como refugio y como tropiezo, la tensión entre el arte y la supervivencia. La parte de nosotros que se extravía cuando un ser amado desaparece y los lazos tentaculares que tejen las familias que elegimos.
Onírico y preciso, lúcido y vibrante, Wishbone es un hechizo narrativo que se despliega en un elenco de personajes irresistibles, una estructura que desafía las convenciones de la narrativa y una revelación final impactante. Con esta novela, Laia Jufresa se consolida como una de las voces más singulares de la literatura latinoamericana contemporánea.
La crítica ha
«Esta novela es un magnífico pulpo que, con sus tentáculos de palabras certeras y luminosas, une continentes, nacionalidades y vínculos profundos. Wishbone inventa colores nuevos hechos de felicidad y suerte e, incluso en medio de pérdidas irreparables y desapariciones forzadas, el lector nadará en un océano de belleza transformadora».
Agustina Bazterrica
«Laia Jufresa hace lo que se supone que deben hacer los poner de relieve la extrañeza de un mundo antiquísimo. Wishbone es un libro hermoso que te atrapa la mirada y no la suelta, para que experimentes nuevas formas de ver los placeres y las fechorías de nuestro presente».
Yuri Herrera
«Laia Jufresa construye una arquitectura narrativa una novela que avanza hacia atrás mientras revela, con una precisión implacable, las fuerzas que sostienen y quiebran una vida. Su estructura invita a leer como quien desenreda un secreto. Laia Jufresa lleva el color hasta sus últimas consecuencias, convirtiéndolo en memoria y una reflexión poderosa sobre el arte, la pérdida y la creación».
Fernanda Trías
«La ambición y la originalidad de Wishbone no provienen solo de su estructura y de la manera en que la historia se desplaza por el tiempo y el espacio, sino también de la exploración matizada, inteligente y a menudo humorística de sus personajes, que da lugar a una conmovedora meditación sobre el arte y el duelo que me dejó sin aliento».
Daniel Saldaña París
Sobre Umami :
«Señora ¿dónde chingados aprendió a contar una historia tan bien?»
Álvaro Enrigue
«Una pequeña obra maestra única».
Book Riot
Please This audiobook is in Spanish.
«Todo está vivo en el deslumbrante Wishbone de Laia Jufresa. Personas, objetos y paisajes están igualmente imbuidos de una fuerza que ondula a través de las diversas líneas temporales, conectándonos profundamente con un mundo encantado y desencantado, lleno de personajes inolvidables. Una novela tour de force de una de las voces más cautivadoras y originales de mi generación».
Valeria Luiselli
En Oaxaca, Tor Sima ha creado un museo dedicado al color. En Edimburgo, Vica Luft trabaja como secretaria y cría sola a su hija. Comparten una herida, un amante y una curiosa devoción por los pulpos. Lo que las une no es una anécdota, sino una corriente subterránea que atraviesa años y geografías.
A lo largo de dos décadas y siete ciudades, Wishbone retrocede en el tiempo para indagar en lo que permanece y en lo que se pierde. La maternidad y sus ambivalencias, la amistad como refugio y como tropiezo, la tensión entre el arte y la supervivencia. La parte de nosotros que se extravía cuando un ser amado desaparece y los lazos tentaculares que tejen las familias que elegimos.
Onírico y preciso, lúcido y vibrante, Wishbone es un hechizo narrativo que se despliega en un elenco de personajes irresistibles, una estructura que desafía las convenciones de la narrativa y una revelación final impactante. Con esta novela, Laia Jufresa se consolida como una de las voces más singulares de la literatura latinoamericana contemporánea.
La crítica ha
«Esta novela es un magnífico pulpo que, con sus tentáculos de palabras certeras y luminosas, une continentes, nacionalidades y vínculos profundos. Wishbone inventa colores nuevos hechos de felicidad y suerte e, incluso en medio de pérdidas irreparables y desapariciones forzadas, el lector nadará en un océano de belleza transformadora».
Agustina Bazterrica
«Laia Jufresa hace lo que se supone que deben hacer los poner de relieve la extrañeza de un mundo antiquísimo. Wishbone es un libro hermoso que te atrapa la mirada y no la suelta, para que experimentes nuevas formas de ver los placeres y las fechorías de nuestro presente».
Yuri Herrera
«Laia Jufresa construye una arquitectura narrativa una novela que avanza hacia atrás mientras revela, con una precisión implacable, las fuerzas que sostienen y quiebran una vida. Su estructura invita a leer como quien desenreda un secreto. Laia Jufresa lleva el color hasta sus últimas consecuencias, convirtiéndolo en memoria y una reflexión poderosa sobre el arte, la pérdida y la creación».
Fernanda Trías
«La ambición y la originalidad de Wishbone no provienen solo de su estructura y de la manera en que la historia se desplaza por el tiempo y el espacio, sino también de la exploración matizada, inteligente y a menudo humorística de sus personajes, que da lugar a una conmovedora meditación sobre el arte y el duelo que me dejó sin aliento».
Daniel Saldaña París
Sobre Umami :
«Señora ¿dónde chingados aprendió a contar una historia tan bien?»
Álvaro Enrigue
«Una pequeña obra maestra única».
Book Riot
Please This audiobook is in Spanish.
- GenresFiction
424 pages, Paperback
Published May 14, 2026
About the author
Laia Jufresa
16 books166 followersLaia Jufresa grew up in the cloud forest of Veracruz and spent her adolescence in Paris. In 2001, she moved to Mexico City and discovered she didn’t know how to cross a street. She’s been writing fiction ever since.
She holds a BA from La Sorbonne University, and is the author of the short stories collection El esquinista (FETA, 2014) and the novel Umami (Literatura Random House, 2015).
Umami has been translated to English and French. And the Dutch, Turkish, Italian, Polish and Danish versions are forthcoming. It was chosen as the best first novel in Spanish at the 2016 First Novel Festival in Chambéry, France, and it was the recipient of a PEN Translates Award.
Laia's work has been featured in several anthologies as well as magazines such as Letras Libres, Pen Atlas, Words Without Borders and McSweeney's.
In 2014 Laia was invited to write chronicles for the crossing Border Festival in The Hague, and in 2015 she was invited by the British Council Literature to be the first ever International Writer in Residence at Hay Festival in Wales.
Laia has been named as one of the most outstanding young writers in Mexico as part of the 2015 project México20, the anthology of which is published by Pushkin Press.
She holds a BA from La Sorbonne University, and is the author of the short stories collection El esquinista (FETA, 2014) and the novel Umami (Literatura Random House, 2015).
Umami has been translated to English and French. And the Dutch, Turkish, Italian, Polish and Danish versions are forthcoming. It was chosen as the best first novel in Spanish at the 2016 First Novel Festival in Chambéry, France, and it was the recipient of a PEN Translates Award.
Laia's work has been featured in several anthologies as well as magazines such as Letras Libres, Pen Atlas, Words Without Borders and McSweeney's.
In 2014 Laia was invited to write chronicles for the crossing Border Festival in The Hague, and in 2015 she was invited by the British Council Literature to be the first ever International Writer in Residence at Hay Festival in Wales.
Laia has been named as one of the most outstanding young writers in Mexico as part of the 2015 project México20, the anthology of which is published by Pushkin Press.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 9, 2026
just, stunned… speechless. fully beyond recommend this book, please pre-order it immediately! especially if you’re into nonlinear narratives, diving into memory / shared memory, &/or anything to do with art, colors, philosophy, physics, &/or octopus amazingness. & MORE.
Tor Sima is the founder of the International Museum of Color in Oaxaca. Vica Luft is a secretary and single mother in Edinburgh.
Disparate as their lives are, they mirror and inform one another in striking ways: an early trauma, a shared lover, an affinity for the octopus. Moving backward in time across two decades and seven cities, Wishbone quietly unravels what ties them together and what sets them apart. This is a captivating story about motherhood and friendship, art and commerce, selfhood and loss; about the parts of us that go missing when a loved one disappears, and the tentacular bonds forged by the families we create.
Laia Jufresa's first book written in English, Wishbone is dreamy and precise, insightful and thrilling: a work of lived-in magic with a colorful cast of irresistible characters, a dazzlingly inventive structure, and a stunning final revelation.
blurb above is from the publisher’s instagram (highly suggest that you visit their page until the english edition is added to GR too, as the spanish edition’s cover design is nice… but maybe too much like they plugged the title into AI, because the reasons for the title are more complex than “making a wish banksy vibes” & the Fern Book’s cover is directly from a painting by James David Lee, a San Francisco artist, referencing something significant from the text too!!)
more soon, but just… WOW. wow wow wow. I don’t want to say too much / give anything away, but y’all… THIS BOOK.
advanced copy of the Fern Books edition (pub date: September 15) received from Publisher. with so much gratitude. • I fell in love with this small press after reading Like a Sky Inside, Jakuta Alikavazovic (tr. Daniel Levin Becker) that was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness award & a top fave from last year, & then immediately read the other two they have published (also translated works!) & sent an email asking to please be put on a mailing list or anything at all for any upcoming publications, as the writing alone is stellar but the books as objects are absolute gems too… they’re a small press between the bay area & Paris, I hope this appears on the RoC next year!! plus other prizes too!! I had to reorder Like a Sky Inside—it’s also awesomely been on a few of this year’s summer reading rec lists too—& plan on rereading that soon. & did I mention you should definitely order WISHBONE, asap‽ because, yes, do it.
(I’m also usually not an ARC reader/seeker, even with the obscene amount of books I read, but have gotten so damn lucky not once but TWICE in less than a year, both absolute faves & so meaningful to me in timing & experience & inspiration. I’ll also be ordering the official publication edition of Wishbone, but will be in-between two places far from each other around the release date so will either venture to a local to somewhere(s) independent bookstore & have some incredible later autumn rereading to do… both options are pretty great & hopefully can buddy read this with friends too?! friends here & already been texting friends not on here too! :)
Tor Sima is the founder of the International Museum of Color in Oaxaca. Vica Luft is a secretary and single mother in Edinburgh.
Disparate as their lives are, they mirror and inform one another in striking ways: an early trauma, a shared lover, an affinity for the octopus. Moving backward in time across two decades and seven cities, Wishbone quietly unravels what ties them together and what sets them apart. This is a captivating story about motherhood and friendship, art and commerce, selfhood and loss; about the parts of us that go missing when a loved one disappears, and the tentacular bonds forged by the families we create.
Laia Jufresa's first book written in English, Wishbone is dreamy and precise, insightful and thrilling: a work of lived-in magic with a colorful cast of irresistible characters, a dazzlingly inventive structure, and a stunning final revelation.
blurb above is from the publisher’s instagram (highly suggest that you visit their page until the english edition is added to GR too, as the spanish edition’s cover design is nice… but maybe too much like they plugged the title into AI, because the reasons for the title are more complex than “making a wish banksy vibes” & the Fern Book’s cover is directly from a painting by James David Lee, a San Francisco artist, referencing something significant from the text too!!)
more soon, but just… WOW. wow wow wow. I don’t want to say too much / give anything away, but y’all… THIS BOOK.
advanced copy of the Fern Books edition (pub date: September 15) received from Publisher. with so much gratitude. • I fell in love with this small press after reading Like a Sky Inside, Jakuta Alikavazovic (tr. Daniel Levin Becker) that was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness award & a top fave from last year, & then immediately read the other two they have published (also translated works!) & sent an email asking to please be put on a mailing list or anything at all for any upcoming publications, as the writing alone is stellar but the books as objects are absolute gems too… they’re a small press between the bay area & Paris, I hope this appears on the RoC next year!! plus other prizes too!! I had to reorder Like a Sky Inside—it’s also awesomely been on a few of this year’s summer reading rec lists too—& plan on rereading that soon. & did I mention you should definitely order WISHBONE, asap‽ because, yes, do it.
(I’m also usually not an ARC reader/seeker, even with the obscene amount of books I read, but have gotten so damn lucky not once but TWICE in less than a year, both absolute faves & so meaningful to me in timing & experience & inspiration. I’ll also be ordering the official publication edition of Wishbone, but will be in-between two places far from each other around the release date so will either venture to a local to somewhere(s) independent bookstore & have some incredible later autumn rereading to do… both options are pretty great & hopefully can buddy read this with friends too?! friends here & already been texting friends not on here too! :)
July 11, 2026
Es todo un viaje, imposible contar más porque se apagaría la magia. Todo encaja en este puzzle. O no. No sé a quién recomendárselo!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Laia Jufresa has done something incredible with this novel. Reading it is like standing in front of a surrealist canvas that stretches around the globe and back. Themes chime in symphonic collision: octopuses, (meta)physics, bones, sisterhood, emigration, memory, naming, femicide, and above all else, color. By the end of the novel, all of Jufresa’s instruments are singing in my ears and my heart. It’s difficult to describe how accomplished, how masterfully conceived and executed this nonlinear novel is. All of this only works if the requisite pieces fall into place. Jufresa’s novel, her first written in English, refracts MWI (many worlds) onto a family tree bathed in fluorescent light.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I don’t want to say anything that could serve as a spoiler but I will absolutely press this book on everyone I know. Beautiful!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews