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Wishbone
Not yet published
Expected 15 Sep 26Tor 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.
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.
- GenresFiction
410 pages, Paperback
Expected publication September 15, 2026
About the author
Laia Jufresa
16 books169 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 - 9 of 9 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!
Did Not Finish
July 17, 2026no tengo nada bueno que decir así que no diré nada. lo empecé hace una semana y voy por la página 80, cada vez que lo cojo intento arrastrarme aunque sea hasta el siguiente capítulo porque la sinopsis me llama mucho la atención y verdaderamente me gustaría leerlo pero se me hace imposible de tragar. no sé por qué motivo pero definitivamente este libro no es para mí
August 14, 2026
Se siente forzado hasta que se explica y en mi opinión, eso es tan bueno como tan malo. Bueno porque ahora todo tiene sentido y da un efecto de “Ah, con razón”. Malo porque la experiencia de la lectura es aburrida.
Este libro es la típica situación donde la experiencia vivida y la memoria son dos cosas diferentes. Me gustaron algunos capítulos pero en casi todos me aburrí muchísimo. Algunos personajes son muy buenos, otros dan “cringe”. Leer eso de la sabrosura tantas veces, casi me hace dejar el libro. De verdad. O por ejemplo, los apodos de los amigos están súper forzados hasta que los explican. Entonces la experiencia de leer el libro es más o menos. Y ni hablar de lo que algunas reseñas llaman: científico. Entiendo la importancia de un personaje así, hay que explicar cosas, pero uff… no tiene nada de científico profundo de verdad, son solo una mezcla de conceptos fáciles y muy explorados por varios autores.
Pero, está el otro lado: la memoria. El recuerdo del libro es increíble. Una vez que terminé de leerlo, olvidé parcialmente, esos malos sentimientos porque todo se acomodó y mi cerebro organizó y escogió lo bueno.
Entonces, en el presente, el libro es como una lectura de vacaciones en la playa. Te duermes, te despiertas, medio te pierdes, luego algo te gusta mucho, luego vas a comer, y casi se te olvida meterlo en la bolsa, así. En la memoria, es un libro bonito, el final me gustó muchísimo. Lástima que no se puede decir mucho porque hay riesgo de hacer un GRAN spoiler.
Ay y me faltó algo importante. Es MUY MUY mexicano. Palabras, situaciones, lugares muy mexicanos, algunos muy cliché otros que solo entiendes bien si has estado en México. Eso es una joya.
Este libro es la típica situación donde la experiencia vivida y la memoria son dos cosas diferentes. Me gustaron algunos capítulos pero en casi todos me aburrí muchísimo. Algunos personajes son muy buenos, otros dan “cringe”. Leer eso de la sabrosura tantas veces, casi me hace dejar el libro. De verdad. O por ejemplo, los apodos de los amigos están súper forzados hasta que los explican. Entonces la experiencia de leer el libro es más o menos. Y ni hablar de lo que algunas reseñas llaman: científico. Entiendo la importancia de un personaje así, hay que explicar cosas, pero uff… no tiene nada de científico profundo de verdad, son solo una mezcla de conceptos fáciles y muy explorados por varios autores.
Pero, está el otro lado: la memoria. El recuerdo del libro es increíble. Una vez que terminé de leerlo, olvidé parcialmente, esos malos sentimientos porque todo se acomodó y mi cerebro organizó y escogió lo bueno.
Entonces, en el presente, el libro es como una lectura de vacaciones en la playa. Te duermes, te despiertas, medio te pierdes, luego algo te gusta mucho, luego vas a comer, y casi se te olvida meterlo en la bolsa, así. En la memoria, es un libro bonito, el final me gustó muchísimo. Lástima que no se puede decir mucho porque hay riesgo de hacer un GRAN spoiler.
Ay y me faltó algo importante. Es MUY MUY mexicano. Palabras, situaciones, lugares muy mexicanos, algunos muy cliché otros que solo entiendes bien si has estado en México. Eso es una joya.
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.
August 17, 2026
3.5⭐
É un libro lindo e o desenlace logrou que me reconciliara un pouco coas partes que menos me gustaron, pero así como empezou moi forte, desinflouse un pouquiño ao redor da metade-final. Non podo comentar moito máis sen facer spoilers!
Iso si, por favor, editorxs: coidado coas traducións literais do inglés, por dios!!!! Eventualmente, tener un punto...
(Segundo consecutivo sobre as desaparicións das mulleres en México, calqueira recomendación similar é benvida)
É un libro lindo e o desenlace logrou que me reconciliara un pouco coas partes que menos me gustaron, pero así como empezou moi forte, desinflouse un pouquiño ao redor da metade-final. Non podo comentar moito máis sen facer spoilers!
Iso si, por favor, editorxs: coidado coas traducións literais do inglés, por dios!!!! Eventualmente, tener un punto...
(Segundo consecutivo sobre as desaparicións das mulleres en México, calqueira recomendación similar é benvida)
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!
July 24, 2026
Sisters, two truths <3
July 30, 2026
Guau.
Del color, de la luz (y la oscuridad) y de deseos que no se pueden pedir más que una vez.
Engancha, atrapa.
Del color, de la luz (y la oscuridad) y de deseos que no se pueden pedir más que una vez.
Engancha, atrapa.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews