Amigas

by Penelope Todd, Elena Bossi

When Elena Bossi and Penelope Todd met in Iowa 2007, their default language was laughter. Penelope’s Spanish was paltry; Elena’s English was picturesque. Nevertheless, on parting, to sustain their friendship, they agreed to write a novel together in alternate chapters (and letters), each in her own country and language. In 2009, they met in Argentina to polish the translations of their story. Amigas presents both English and Spanish versions in one edition.

2009: in Argentina, a woman prepares to travel to Italy for a funeral. In New Zealand, two friends discuss art, loss, and how to accept life as it plays out.

1969: a girl from New Zealand and another from Argentina are stranded in the airport in Rome. A friendship is forged and they exchange letters for a decade, until events take a sinister turn during Argentina’s ‘dirty war’.

2009: again in the airport in Rome, cancelled flights throw together two women whose lives have intersected in unexpected ways.
The hidden threads of these friendships are drawn deftly together.

Amigas is a story of female friendships, how they are forged, how they endure across time and geography, how they stimulate and sustain.

Available from Rosa Mira Books

ebook

Published January 1, 2012

About the author

Todd, Penelope (1958- ) spent her first thirty years in Christchurch, and now lives in Dunedin. She works freelance as a manuscript consultant and editor.