“I’ve always looked at myself from above, as pleased as an omniscient narrator.” (Empar Moliner, Beloved)

/ madamebibilophile

Trigger warning: mentions childhood sexual abuse

This is my contribution to the wonderful Novellas in November 2024 hosted by Cathy at 746 Books and Beck at Bookish Beck.

I heard about Beloved by Empar Moliner (transl. Laura McGloughlin 2024) through Stu at Winston’s Dad’s blog. I was immediately tempted and it seemed a good choice for my resolution to buy a book a month from an indie press/bookshop. The lovely 3TimesRebel Press even included a tote bag 😊

The striking cover illustration is by Anna Pont, a Catalan artist. She died from cancer earlier this year and all the proceeds from Beloved are being donated to cancer research.

The paw is courtesy of Fred aka Horatio Velveteen aka Mike Woznicat (as like the comedian Mike Wozniak he has a handsome moustache). Anyway, enough of my blithering about my cat. On with novellas!

Remei is in her early 50s and going through menopause. She is married to a musician ten years younger and at the start of the novella she has a revelation:

“Falling oestrogen, combined with lactose intolerance and loss of near sight, makes me see the world through the light wings of a dragonfly. Because of this I can see, with utter clarity, that my man is going to fall in love with this other woman.”

The novella follows Remei as she works out how she will manage this, as she tries to cope with her bodily changes and memories of a traumatic past at the same time.

She is a witty, forthright, slightly sardonic narrator. I really enjoyed the distinctive voice of this resilient woman.

“I must point out I find modesty overrated: I’m still a good deal. What’s more, until now I’ve performed pre-feminist sexual positions with total dedication and delight.”

Her husband, whom she calls Neptune, is not as clearly drawn. But this is not his story: we are firmly in the first person narration of Remei. She and her husband don’t seem hugely well-suited:

“I like music much more than him and I’m an illustrator. But he likes comics much more than me and he’s a musician.”

“I like everyone, in one way or another. He likes hardly anyone, in one way or another.”

“That’s how we see life too, he and I. Me: everything and right now, so nothing is left over. Him: only what fits, even if what is discarded will rot.”

But she loves him and she loves being a mother to their daughter. Her career is successful, although not quite in the way she planned. However, she is not entirely happy. She self-medicates with alcohol:

“My whole life is a gallop between the pretentious and the epic, depending only on how many drinks I’ve had.”

As she goes for runs with her friends, she reflects on the sexual abuse of her childhood, sanctioned by her family. She is estranged from her brother, after she spoke about what was happening and they were taken into care. Remei seems very much alone, despite all the people that surround her.

She is blisteringly honest about her attitude to her husband and the confusion of feelings as she recognises future events:

“Do I want him to continue to love me as much as ever? Yes. No. I want to float along, no more. I want him to be frozen.”

There is a lot of humour too. Remei never demonises Cris, the young colleague of her husband, but wryly observes her behaviour:

“Punctual, efficient, her ovaries functioning at top speed.”

Beloved shows how control is only sustained through the lightest of ties. Remei is a functional alcoholic who could tip over at any time; she realises her relationship with her daughter is on the brink of change as the latter grows older and more aware; she attempts to control her body with running but aging is relentless; and she takes steps to manoeuvre her husband and Cris in a way that will allow her to cope with the affair, but where will this leave her?

Remei is so flawed, so honest, so tenderly vulnerable and spikily self-sufficient, I was really rooting for her to find a way through all the hurt.

To end, the ever wonderful Tracy Chapman singing about changes in life:

19 thoughts on ““I’ve always looked at myself from above, as pleased as an omniscient narrator.” (Empar Moliner, Beloved)”

  1. Your trigger warning nearly put me off but it does not sound as if it is dwelt upon in an unhelpful way here and I read on! I do really like this narrative voice based upon the quotes you have selected; that in itself is pretty much all I need to persuade me to want to read this. I’m also at that certain age so I do like books with older reflective women as the main character. And of course, how could one not feel good about supporting an indie publisher – especially when they send free tote bags!

    P.S Fred (aka Horatio Velveteen, aka Mike Woznicat) has an extremely cute paw and he has not muddied your beautiful sofa cover; great photo!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Yes I wasn’t sure whether to include the warning, but I thought people trying to avoid the subject entirely might feel safe with a book blog and then come across it. It is more detailed in the book obviously, so I did want to reference it.

      The narrative voice is so distinct, I really enjoyed her. I am also at a certain age so an older reflective woman will always pique my interest!

      He is a cutie and his paws are always immaculate – unlike his sister who is permanently grubby of paw and I’ve no idea how!

      Like

      Reply

  5. This does sound great, I love her voice and the pre-feminist sexual positions! I also love the sound of 3TimesRebel Press who I hadn’t heard of and their generosity in donating to charity and I love your resolution to buy from an indie publisher every month – that’s a good one for next year!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. I love the quotes and the sense of humor of the author.

    I wonder why they picked the same title as Beloved by Toni Morrison, though.

    The cat paw reminds me of all the conf calls we had during COVID and how we got to meet everyone’s cat because at some point they’d leap on the computer, on the person’s lap, etc. It was so funny.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. The positions (ahem) quotation made me laugh! So much power resides in finding a way to lighten serious material.

    So often the indie presses include a little flourish, whether a tote or a bookmark or a sticker etc. Love it.

    The other night I watched a whole pile of Tracy Chapman, because #reasons. She’s just really something.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Pingback: Winding Up the Week #419 – Book Jotter

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.