Els dits de la bruixa

New Bizarro Author Series

by Tamara Romero

Una bruixa amb els cabells vermells i els dits d’acer apareix inconscient a la llera del riu Adrenalina. Un científic amb una malaltia angoixant la rescata i li ofereix refugi a la seva cabana.

Aquí comença i convergeix la història maleïda dels protagonistes, en un món que supera a poc a poc les conseqüències d’una dictadura aterridora i on conviuen somnàmbuls que no volen despertar-se, punks que s’implanten peces metàl·liques al cos, robots de companyia que freguen la perversió i un grapat de bruixes que, un bon dia, van decidir abandonar les ciutats per conquerir els boscos.

Els dits de la bruixa és la reveladora història d’una dimensió màgica i complexa que amaga als troncs dels arbres els seus secrets més terribles.

Genres: Bizarro Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Witches

120 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

Tamara Romero nació en Barcelona y escribe ficción especulativa y terror. Es autora de Her Fingers, una nouvelle publicada por la editorial americana Eraserhead Press en 2012, y de las novelas Respiración de fuego, Brújula y Murciélago, La estatua que tiembla o la colección de relatos Objeto ancla. Algunos de sus cuentos han aparecido en The Barcelona Review, Strange Horizons, El gran libro de Satán o Presencia Humana, entre otras revistas y antologías. Visita www.tamararomero.com para más información.

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/MGPmL

******
Tamara Romero was born in Barcelona and writes speculative and horror fiction. Her Fingers (Eraserhead Press, 2012) is her first book. She also wrote, in Spanish, Brújula y murciélago, La estatua que tiembla and the story collection Cuarto acercamiento al ovni, among others. Her short fiction has been featured in Presencia Humana, The Barcelona Review, Strange Horizons or Combustible Lovecraft. Check her website at www.tamararomero.com.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a bionic red haired witch washed up from the Adrenaline River near his house, Volatile nurses her back to health and chooses to reveal some fundamental truths about the world to her. But will the truth destroy them both?

The 2012-2013 New Bizarro Author Series rolls on. Tamera Romero has been a friend of mine on Goodreads for years but I've had little interaction with her apart from reading her reviews. Also, I miss her old avatar photo where she's pretending her hands are goggles. Anyway, she's crafted quite an odd tale.

Her Fingers takes place in a oppressed state populated by persecuted witches, bionic people, and all sorts of other strangeness. It's dark fantasy at times and cyberpunk at others. It reminds me a little of Athena Villaverde's Starfish Girl but the book it really reminds me of is Veniss Underground by Jeff Vandermeer. It also had the slight taste of Steppenwolf, but I can't articulate why I feel that way.

Romero does a lot of good world-building in 60 pages, making me want to read another book set in the same world. I love the crazy concepts like the tree mothers, teenagers getting bionic implants as an act of rebellion, and The Gag, a horrible disease. I also like the shifting viewpoints between Miadora and Volatile, making the climax of the story have that much more impact.

One last thing I want to note: even though this was translated from Spanish, it is typo-free, which is rare for even English bizarro books these days.

Anyway, Her Fingers was a quirky read and a good way to spend a lunch hour.

[Hugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reseña publicada originalmente en Luchando contra el Duende de la Perversidad

Her Fingers viene a ser un claro ejemplo de que uno no es profeta en su tierra y de que en el mercado editorial en español hay cosas que fallan. Tamara Romero escribió esta historia en castellano, pero la salida que tuvo fue en Eraserhead Press (una editorial independiente americana especializada en Bizarro) al traducirla en inglés. A pesar de que hay grandes obras de la literatura que tienen un formato breve en este país parece que siempre se ha dejado de lado y no es posible dar salida a formatos más breves que una novela. Es una lástima. ¿Será porque la palabra "cuento" hace pensar a la gente en eso que se lee a los niños antes de ir a dormir? Podríamos hablar largo y tendido sobre prejuicios estúpidos pero prefiero centrarme en la reseña.

Porque Tamara Romero ha dibujado una historia fantástica que empieza cuando Misadora, una bruja de cabellos rojos es rescatada de las aguas de un río, como si de una Ofelia se tratase. A partir de ese momento iremos descubriendo cómo ha llegado hasta allí y por qué sus dedos han tenido que ser sustituidos por apéndices de metal.

Lo que más sorprende de Her Fingers es que la autora es capaz de crear, en apenas 60 páginas, todo un mundo a medio camino entre la fantasía y la ciencia-ficción distópica que te dejará con ganas de saber mucho más de él. Este mundo completamente coherente está sometido a un férreo control gubernamental y por él desfilan brujas, mujeres que viven dentro de árboles, drogas legales, enfermedades extrañas y adolescentes que cambian partes de su cuerpo por piezas metálicas para alcanzar la inmortalidad.

La historia está explicada desde dos puntos de vista, el de Misadora y el de su salvador de entre las aguas y desde el principio nos deja claro que las cosas no son lo que parecen. La acción transcurre entre capítulos desordenados cronológicamente pero puestos ahí de manera lógica entre ellos para ir desvelándonos una historia que te atrapa desde el principio. La manera de escribir de Romero es como de cuento de hadas, dándole un toque aún más mágico a una historia que ya de por sí lo es y hace que esos toques weird que tiene se integren perfectamente.

Los personajes son también fascinantes: Misadora, los robots quasihumanos, el científico enfermo... y sobre todo ese mecánico extraño que ayuda a la protagonista cambiándole los dedos.

No sé si la autora tiene intención de seguir desarrollando historias ambientadas en ese mundo, pero a mí me gustaría leer algo más de él.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misadora es una bruja de pelo rojo que es rescatada de ahogarse por Volàtil, un científico que vive con su robot. Resulta que en este país, Yimla, las brujas son perseguidas y asesinadas. De hecho, Misadora ha sufrido la amputación de cuatro dedos de una de sus manos, aunque han sido sustituidos por implantes biónicos.

‘Els dits de la bruixa’ (Her Fingers, 2012), de Tamara Romero, es una extraña mezcla de fantasía y ciencia ficción, un mundo fascinante, lleno de detalles en los que no entra a describir a fondo, como suele ser habitual en la autora. Yo esto lo agradezco muchas veces, ya que no me gusta que me lo den todo masticado, que te hagas preguntas. Buena novela corta, sin duda.

[Víctor Martín-Pozuelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este va de brujas amnésicas, fantasía original, enfermedades incurables, mundos extraños, jebi metal y es cortito, se lee de una sentada.

Hay un personaje que tiene el rabo de metal, porque es la moda entre la juventud hacerse implantes de steel and merol, y cuando le preguntan a su novia que cómo es eso ella dice que frío y caliente al mismo tiempo.

Vamos, que muy bien.

[Edgar Cotes Argelich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quan t’acabes un novellette i tens la sensació que se t’ha fet curta, és molt bon senyal. Mai Més aposten per una autora catalana inèdita en català, però amb un cert renom en el gènere underground del bizarro. Ja l’havia llegida en alguns dels reculls d’Orciny i en vaig sortir amb bones sensacions. En aquesta ocasió ha estat igual o millor. Romero ens presenta un món que sembla beure de “La mort i la primavera” passat pel sedàs de Huxley. La trama és el menys important, el verdaderament apassionant és com ens presenta aquest món tan apassionant i la interacció mig somnolent entre els protagonistes, que és deliciosa. Potser hi ha coses de l’estil que m’han grinyolat una mica en alguns moments, m’hauria agradat alguna cosa més depurada i més poètica, però segurament és cosa de tenir la novel·la de Rodoreda massa al cap. Una autora que cal seguir.

[Karen Madrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poc es pot dir sense fer espoliers. Només que és una novel•la curta sobre les mentides del sistema i el dolorós procés que un ha de fer per saber la veritat i actuar en conseqüència. Un procès que, segons Romero, val clarament la pena.

[Oriol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genial, estranya i sorprenent.

[Charlotte Frixnet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aposta claríssima per una ciència ficció un punt incòmode. Amb moltes ganes de llegir més!

[Carlex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tres estels i mig.

La veritat és que no m'atrau gaire el "weird" o "bizarro" però en canvi sí que m'agrada com escriu la Tamara Romero, així que penso repetir : )

[Auntie Raye-Raye · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems appropriate that I read this book while waiting for the blurry-ness and stupidity of vistaril to leave my system. If you're inclined to partake in substances that change your perception of reality, you'll super enjoy this book.

It starts off like a lovely fairy tale-esq dream, filled with bionic people. android doll assistants, interesting drugs, and witches. Everyone in this world has 3 names. You might not know all three. Who you call Catbus, might be known as Hamster to someone else.

Then under that dream, is a punk like, political kind of nightmare. Those sleepwalkers might have been put in that position by drugs. Treemothers might be used for in a horrible way. Why are there witches in the forest? Why can'I touch that Amalis? Omg, AM I TURNING PURPLE?! LET GO OF MY JAW!!

[Francesc Cortès Cid · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,4/5
Bruixes, ciborgs i poders misteriosos en una história tan curta com intensa

[Ferran d'Armengol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una fantàstica faula narrada amb la senzillesa dels contes explicats a la vora del foc. Atrapa i no el pots deixar de llegir. El màgic món creat és sospitosament semblant al nostre i les coses no sempre són allò que ens diuen ser.

[Miquel Codony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con sesenta páginas escasas, Her Fingers tensa al máximo los límites que le impone su brevedad al empaquetar densamente una cantidad de ideas que son un homenaje a la imaginación fértil de su autora. Esta riqueza imaginativa es a la vez la mayor virtud y el principal problema del texto, que solo gracias a su enfoque no lineal de la construcción del mundo, al ritmo de la narración y a su voluntad de crítica social evita ahogarse en la superficialidad. En las páginas repletas de metáforas de Her Fingers puede encontrarse una crítica a la lucha entre sexos, una descripción de la destrucción de la personalidad que pueden provocar las drogas, una denuncia del control del individuo por parte del estado y una advertencia del peligro de las etiquetas cuando se dan por sentado y llevan a renunciar al control de la propia vida. Aunque la extensión del libro impide que la historia profundice en todos los temas que apunta, tal vez excesivos en número, Romero consigue utilizar lo extraño como una cámara de resonancia que evoca situaciones propias de nuestro mundo y aumenta el calado del texto sin necesidad de entrar en detalles, como por ejemplo esos adolescentes de la novela que se injertan implantes biónicos como forma de rebelión contra sus padres que, a su vez, les pagan tatuajes en un intento inane de satisfacer sus ansias de transgresión. Aunque algunos de los pasajes de Her Fingers pueden ser leídos como una declaración de principios del propio New Weird o de amor hacia lo extraño por lo extraño, ningún elemento de la narración es gratuito y todos cumplen alguna función que sirve a una historia que sabe a pesadilla y acaba como un despertar arrebatador.
Me gustaría leer un libro de Tamara Romero en el que pudiera dedicar más espacio a desarrollar sus ideas, sus premisas y sus personajes. Her Fingers funciona perfectamente porque su autora sabe convertir su brevedad en virtud y soluciona con atajos la justificación del mundo que ha construido. No tengo quejas sobre lo que el cuento incluye, pero me queda el anhelo de leer todo lo que deja fuera. Una curiosidad del libro es que Tamara Romero lo escribió en español y luego lo tradujo al inglés (una de las recomendaciones para escritores noveles, por cierto, de Pedro Román). A eso le atribuyo, quizás, la tendencia a repetir determinadas estructuras sintácticas (“I…“, “I…“, “I…“) que interfieren ligeramente con el flujo de la prosa, pero es un problema muy menor que puede estar más en el eye of the beholder que en el texto en si mismo.
Una historia muy recomendable y una nueva autora de la que estar pendiente.

[Café de Tinta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farem ressenya a la web!

[Bibliotecario De Arbelon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Els Dits de la Bruixa és el nou encert (un altre) de l'editorial Mai Més que publica per primera vegada en català la obra de Tamara Romero publicada originalment en anglès com Her Fingers.

L'autora crea un món molt complexe en poques pàgines oferint-nos una història captivadora i desolaroda al mateix temps.

Una bruixa amb quatre dits de ferro apareix ofegada a la vora del riu i un científic amb una malaltia incurable la rescata de la mort. Mica en mica, anirem coneixent la història que hi ha darrerre d'ambdós personatges mentre anem coneixent pinzellades de la societat post-dictatorial on viuen: somnàmbuls, joves que s'implanten peces biòniques, robots de companyia... I drogues, que són, prácticament, la única via d'escapament que la societat ha trobat per fugir de la realitat. A tot això, també hi sumem parts on podem trobar una crítica social que, malauradament, podem observar avui dia.

Un novela curta que es devora d'un sol cop i que deixa amb ganes (moltes) de saber més d'aquest món i dels personatges creats per la Tamara.

[Marina Vidal · Rating 4 out of 5]

3'5/5

Describir está novela corta es muy complicado, y creo que habla muy bien de la historia que sea así. La cantidad de elementos mezclados es abrumadora, pero, están tan bien aglutinados, que la autora consigue una mezcla equilibrada y que funciona bastante bien. Tal vez no es mi historia favorita bizarra, pero es una propuesta muy interesante, con una historia curiosa detrás respecto a sus diversas ediciones, que complementa muy bien el catálogo de Mai Més.

[Raül · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://lesradesgrises.com/2020/07/16...

[Mireia Crusellas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quina meravella, tot i que m'hauria agradat introduir-me més dins d'aquest món i saber-ne més coses. Algunes frases em sonaven estranyes, com poc naturals en català, suposo que són només manies meves.

[Marta Cava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seria un 3,5 però després de tants anys Goodreads encara no ha entès que ens cal poder votar amb mig punt

[Anita Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can read my entire discussion here.

Review snippet: The story is about witches who have become persecuted and deals with the specific experiences of a witch called Misadora. Misadora has several other names in this book, and given that several other characters have several other names, I lost the thread of who was who several times, which makes it difficult to write a good plot synopsis. At any rate, a man called Volatile finds Misadora floating in a river after she is attacked. He takes her in and shelters her, though he has a lot of trepidation about Misadora that I cannot share because it would be a spoiler. He lives, I believe, amongst what are called the Treemothers, women whom, when called by the witches, ran into the forests and merged with trees. These Treemothers exude a sort of sap/jewel called Amalis and only women can touch it. Misadora was caught wearing an Amalis ring and had all the fingers on that hand cut off. Friends who also have several names help her out with a bionic hand. Misadora has to stand up against the ever increasing persecution of the witches and the soldiers who try to kill the Treemothers, but at the end is faced with a horrifying truth that changes everything she thought she knew.

If this description seems very vague, that’s because I often could not get a grip on what this book was about. That is why it would have been better had this novella been written into a longer novel. To have multiple characters with multiple names, all the world-building with the towns, the history of the witches and the families, the Treemothers, Misadora and Volatile, and to cram it all into a book under 60 pages, is too much for the reader. That’s no insult to Romero because even though I have to review the book in front of me, it’s no small compliment to say that a book needs to be longer so that the author has to room to fully show off her chops. As it stands, this book is a small wave of names and places that will wash over the reader without being understood unless the reader is willing to take notes to keep track of who is who, which names are towns and what exactly being a sleepwalker may indicate. Finally, when you factor in that this book is told from different character perspectives, characters whose names switch in the book, it’s all a bit too much.

[Jeremy Maddux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her Fingers by Tamara Romero has been nothing short of an 'edge-of-my-seat' fairy tale, which is not what I am accustomed to looking for in fairy tales to begin with. It's got bionic witches on drugs, a river called the Adrenaline, three foot helper robots, sleepwalkers fighting to wake up, hybrid animals like swanwolves and fishsquirrels, rings that return to their owners and the theory of Pain Energy. I'll be very sad if she doesn't graduate from her probation period in the New Bizarro Authors Series!

[Daniel Genís Mas]

De menys a més. Les últimes 40 pàgines s'han guanyat la 4a estrella XD

[Kitty-Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[Marc Pastor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reconec les moltíssimes virtuts de la novella de la Tamara Romero, entre elles la capacitat de fabulació i d'allò que s'anomena world building però que en realitat és una imaginació desbordant a l'hora d'ambientar la història en univesos tan diferents al nostre. Però potser perquè m'he fet gran o perquè la novel·la no va adreçada a mi (no en soc el lector potencial), sento que alguna cosa se m'escapa, fuig de la lectura.
M'agrada Els dits de la bruixa, a pesar que hi hagi moments que no sé de què m'està parlant (definitivament, m'he fet gran) i alhora això reforça encara més la sensació no de weird, sinò de sentit de la meravella. Perquè al cap i a la fi, el que ha creat Romero aquí és una història curulla d'idees bombollejants, fascinant escena rere escena, que fa pessigolles en regions del cervell que tenia rovellades.

[El Biblionauta]

Ja el tenim aquí! A la fi! Bizarro en català! I no qualsevol bizarro… Ni més ni menys que Els dits de la bruixa, la primera novel·la curta de Tamara Romero: una autora difícilment classificable que, per aquest motiu, és l’ambaixadora ideal d’un gènere que es va colant, en comptagotes, a les nostres prestatgeries en català.

Podeu valorar el llibre i llegir completa la ressenya de Tatiana Dunyó a: https://elbiblionauta.com/ca/2020/08/...

[Lucía León · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just el que necessitava. He fet un tuit tonto, a més, que diu: els dits de la bruixa (tamara romero) és recomanadíssim si teniu un bloqueig lector i voleu que us expliquin una història interessant, a més de ser una introducció fantàstica al bizarro 💥

[Aran B. Riera · Rating 4 out of 5]

M'ha agradat molt, però m'he quedat amb la sensació que li han faltat algunes pàgines per acabar d'explicar i pulir detalls. Vull llegir més cosetes de la Tamara Romero, això ho tinc clar.

[Sheldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya broke my heart, Tamara.

I have to state something to start off. In reading Her Fingers by Tamara Romero, it's quite possible that I simply didn't get it. There's a strong feeling that it's the kind of book that requires more than one read through, and despite its short length I simple haven't had the time to give it a second read. However, it is not at the point where I can simply turn a blind eye to this book's issues, so this deserves a more detailed explanation.

Her Fingers is described on the back cover as a very lyrical book, which is accurate. Romero's prose is without a doubt absolutely beautiful. What makes this even more striking is that she originally wrote this book in Spanish. She also translated it into English herself, which removes the debate over whether the translator should be considered as the writer. It makes me wish I could read Spanish just to see how it read in its original form.

This novella is about...well I'm not entirely sure how best to describe it. You don't really know what it's about at first other than the description on the back cover. In short, a witch woman washes up near an isolated cabin occupied by a researcher. A witch woman with metal fingers on one hand (hence the title). The story mostly gets told through flashbacks. Unfortunately, this style of storytelling is the book's greatest strength but eventually turns into its biggest flaw.

The style of storytelling is unique and very interesting, but unfortunately Romero doesn't follow through. While the style was well done while it lasts, it stops abruptly. There's an axiom in the literary world that in most books we're only seeing a small portion of the iceberg and the rest is hidden under the surface. Unfortunately, Her Fingers feels like barely any of the iceberg is being shown up until the end when the whole thing suddenly surfaces at once. The story ends completely depending on telling instead of showing. Literally, everything is explained by one character at the end without much build up.

I can't begin to tell you how disappointing this is. The writing style is so gorgeous and the world is incredibly rich and detailed, with such a wonderful buildup in the story. It feels like this book should (not “could”) have easily been about three time as long as it is. But then it felt like Romero got tired of it or got backed into a corner with a deadline (I don't know if this is what actually happened; it just feels like it) and decided to end the story then and there. I really hope that this story is not something that she leaves behind. There is clearly so much more to tell about this world that it would be a crime against literature to abandon it.

This novella is part of the New Bizarro Authors Series of 2012-2013. I give Romero a lot of credit for her absolutely gorgeous use of language and daring to try something different. But the storytelling becomes so frustrating and falls apart near the end in dramatic fashion that it's difficult to give it a strong recommendation. I wanted to like it so much more, and I'm one of those people who loves artful writing, but the storytelling problems are so pronounced that I can't recommend this book to a wider audience. If you like strong lyrical prose and a very unique and beautiful world, and can overlook major storytelling problems, give it a shot. Otherwise, you might want give it a pass.

Her Fingers by Tamara Romero gets some extra credit for the writing style and daring to try something different, but ultimately earns only 3 Amalis rings out of 5.

[Mieneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her Fingers is a fascinating novella, which blends fantasy and science fiction in a way that, despite the added weirdness, works really well. Romero crams a lot to unpack into 60-odd pages, but I'm finding it hard to get an actual grip on what to talk about. There is the very creepy authoritarian government, which has institute substituted, legalised drug use to keep its populace from thinking to deeply about its actions and saddles everyone who does classified research with a minder to prevent them from selling their secrets in the form of a pink swan. Their citizens are required to have three names to use and they use different names in different settings of for different encounters. Beyond the continual drug use by almost everyone, people are getting bionic implants to get rid of all their mortal part and achieve a state of not needing to sleep, while on the other end of the spectrum there is a group called the Sleepwalkers, who do exactly that. Both of these groups and the Witches of Yimla are at the lower end of society, but only the Witches are actively persecuted by the government. This mysterious cult-like group is pegged for eradication by the country's insane leader and one strike against them is the catalyst for this story. While we never really get a bead on who our protagonists are, Romero manages to give us enough character-building to empathise with them and get a sense of their motivations. All of this is written in a lyrical style that at times lends the story a fairy tale quality. Romero has a way with words and it's even more amazing when you realise that she wrote the novella in Spanish originally and translated it into English herself.

With Her Fingers Tamara Romero gives us a lovely, intelligent story and quite an interesting read. I can only express admiration for Romero, who manages to express herself more eloquently in a second language, than I can in my mother tongue. If you are interested in branching out your reading from the usual fare or want to see what is going on in non-Anglophone SFF, then the weird and bizarro tale of Her Fingers comes highly recommended.

This book was provided for review by the author.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lyrical, mythical, beautiful. Her Fingers is a prime example that bizarro is a genre to try out and not one to make assumptions about. Its not simply bizarre for the sake of being bizarre. Okay sometimes it is but sometimes it's horror, satire, crazy, zany, witty, funny, brilliant, in the case of Her Fingers its profound and mesmerizing. I adored Her Fingers it is told in alternating points of view by two character's. Most impressive is how such a short story about 50-60 pages includes their tales along with a complete history and foundation of this wonderful intriguing world that Tamara has created. Goverment control, drugs, myth curious character's including ones that sleep their whole lives and those that have their human flesh switched for metal implants.


If you enjoy beautiful tales with wonderful new worlds and characters read Her Fingers. It's a story not to be missed. I was drawn in from the start and love this story. It's a reread for sure. My great thanks to Tamara for letting me enjoy her book. I will be standing in line for her next book as there are many great things to come.

My fave lines, a fine example of Tamara's beautiful writting -

After that night, they could not be seperated from their respective trunks. They drank and ate from the tree, slept and dreamt, to hold the pain at bay. As time went by, wed to their vegtable destiny, their limbs became wood, their hair branches.