Next Tuesday, Ana Ballabriga and David Zaplana publish their sixth joint work, ‘The eternal desire’, about the burundanga and the herds
The writers Ana Ballabriga (Huesca, 1977) and David Zaplana (Cartagena, 1975) will publish their sixth noir novel ‘The eternal desire’, on January 18, through District 93. The work has been the winner of the IV Novel Contest Negra Auguste Dupin, from the Martín Fierro Award for Social Denunciation and finalist for the LH Confidential Award. ‘The eternal desire’ tells the story of April, a normal girl who is the victim of a gang rape after being drugged with burundanga. It is a story of brotherly love and revenge where Keira, Abril’s sister, will do everything possible so that the guilty parties -after being acquitted by the judge- pay for having ruined her sister’s life through a detailed plan. It is a story of current social criticism that “shows the cruelty and injustice of society in cases of sexual assault.” Herds, chemical submission and the monetization of sexual relations are the main protagonists of this black novel that its authors began writing four years ago after meeting -during Gijón’s Black Week- a person from an association of assaulted women sexually. The topic immediately caught their attention and they got down to business.
Social problem
The novel deals with how society treats these women, emphasizing several aspects. First, “in the harsh judicial journey to which they are subjected and, during which, their testimony is always questioned,” says Ana Ballabriga. “The second is the lack of preparation by judges and police officers to deal with this type of victim” and, finally, “the little psychological help they receive” and that, in most cases, comes from these victims. associations. It is “a group story” where not only Keira is presented, but also the judge of the case who has acquitted the culprits and the journalist who “with malpractice” reveals the personal data of the victim and ensures that the relationships were consensual and April just wanted to take advantage of young people.
‘The eternal desire’ has not been, says Ballabriga, an easy story to write. That is why they tried to get good advice for their development. “Sensitive topics are also stories that have to be written to point out the things that we don’t like but are there and, incidentally, that people can reflect on them.” And, for Ballabriga, there is no better tool than crime novels to generate debate and invite reflection. The moral of this bloody story is clear to its author. “Something very serious needs to happen for society and judges to mobilize and changes occur.”
Hand to hand
Ana Ballabriga and David Zaplana met in Valencia when they were studying Psychology and Telecommunications Engineering, respectively. His first novel, ‘After the sun of Cartagena’, arrived in 2007; the second, ‘Gothic Morbidity’, did so in 2010. In 2016 they received the Amazon Literary Award for ‘No True Scotsman’ and in 2018, they published ‘The Paradox of the Blind Librarian’. Last year they published ‘The Desert Prophecy’ and next January 21 they will present ‘The Eternal Desire’ at the Black Week in Pamplona and in March in Cartagena.
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