We are happy to announce that Éditions Denoël has just acquired rights of ‘La chica zombie’, by Laura Fernández. After its recent publication in March by Seix Barral, Denoël is the first international publisher to acquire translation rights.
Laura Fernández departs from absurdity and apparent nonsense to create an amusing, entertaining and critical fable to talk about how adolescence affects teenagers and how a girl’s world can change forever in a few weeks. ‘La chica zombie’ is a particular homage to some of Laura Fernández’s favourite authors such as Stephen King and the American movies and TV series about High Schools. After ‘Wendolin Kramer’ (Seix Barral, 2011), this is again a funny and surprisingly addictive cocktail.
* “Laura Fernández’s ambition is to create something contemporary. In its sum, the novel has a visual effect that reminds us of a comic. Some language traits are linked to some recent films and literature. But it is not a fake modernity. It is the result of a voice of her own, the product of a fresh, uninhibited, ruffian and satirical gaze which, although it seems a game, requires a critical pondering of life.”
- Santos Sanz Villanueva, El Cultural
Erin Francher is 16 years old and lives in the city of Elron. One morning she wakes up and to her surprise her body is not the same as the night before and everything seems to indicate that she is... dead. And even if she’s dead she still has to go to her high school, the Robert Mitchum.
But as she smells horribly her best friend (and the Most Popular Girl at High School) Shirley Perecnchio doesn’t want to have anything to do with her. But in fact Shirley is angry because Erin did something with a guy and now the most popular girl at the High School is Erin and not Shirley. And also, Shirley thinks that Erin is too close to Velma Ellis, the boring language teacher.
Velma is in love with the headmaster of the school, a fat guy who believes he shares his bed with a very demanding (and disgusting) bride’s dress. And velma also believes she is responsible for Erin Francher’s stinking fate... but is she? And what’s more important, is Erin really being devoured by worms or is it just a side effect of the terrible and brutal period of adolescence?
All these questions (and a few more) will be answered at the popular Monster Ball, where all the boys and girls of the High School will gather to celebrate the end of the term.
