The Review of Contemporary Fiction

Bordeaux by Soledad Puértolas
Susan Ireland

Soledad Puértolas. Bordeaux. Trans. Francisca González-Arias. Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1998. 143 pp. Paper: $12.00.

The recipient of several prestigious literary prizes, Soledad Puértolas is one of Spain’s most highly acclaimed contemporary writers; Bordeaux is her first novel to appear in English. The three parts of the book center on three different characters whose lives intersect in mysterious and unexpected ways, and who have in common their feeling of estrangement and their emotional links to Bordeaux. Less a physical place than a series of moods, Puértolas’s Bordeaux is symbolized by the famous writer-philosopher Montaigne, whose essays on solitude, friendship and the self seem to have inspired Puértolas’s own reflections, and by the Entre-Deux-Mers wine region which, with its reference to the “in-between,” is associated in the novel with transitory spaces and psychological states. Here, René Dufour, the aging Pauline Duvivier, and the American Lillian Skalnick all struggle with similar experiences: loneliness, unfulfilled dreams, memories of youth and childhood, and the desire for happiness and self-understanding. In each case, the protagonist’s yearning to do something different is explored through relationships, family ties, and chance encounters and events that break the orderly flow of life—René’s decision to steal money from her father’s business, Pauline’s brief involvement in a story of blackmail and domestic violence, and Lillian’s sudden departure for Italy because of a love affair. Bordeaux is, however, not a despairing work: a quiet meditation on the complexities of life and the self, it ends with a strong affirmation of the beauty of life and a sense of wonder at humanity’s never-ending quest for the unattainable. Puértolas excels at the evocation of fleeting emotions and muted colors: the poetic quality of her prose creates images of haunting beauty and makes Bordeaux an exceptional work that receives my unqualified recommendation. [Susan Ireland]


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The Review of Contemporary Fiction Bordeaux by Soledad Puértolas Susan Ireland Soledad Puértolas. Bordeaux. Trans. Francisca González-Arias. Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1998. 143 pp. Paper: $12.00. The recipient of several prestigious literary prizes, Soledad Puértolas is one of Spain’s most highly acclaimed contemporary writers; Bordeaux is her first novel to appear in English. The three parts of the book center on three different characters whose lives intersect in mysterious and unexpected ways, and who have in common their feeling of estrangement and their emotional links to Bordeaux. Less a physical place than a series of moods, Puértolas’s Bordeaux is symbolized by the famous writer-philosopher Montaigne, whose essays on solitude, friendship and the self seem to have inspired Puértolas’s own reflections, and by the Entre-Deux-Mers wine region which, with its reference to the “in-between,” is associated in the novel with transitory spaces and psychological states. Here, René Dufour, the aging Pauline Duvivier, and the American Lillian Skalnick all struggle with similar experiences: loneliness, unfulfilled dreams, memories of youth and childhood, and the desire for happiness and self-understanding. In each case, the protagonist’s yearning to do something different is explored through relationships, family ties, and chance encounters and events that break the orderly flow of life—René’s decision to steal money from her father’s business, Pauline’s brief involvement in a story of blackmail and domestic violence, and Lillian’s sudden departure for Italy because of a love affair. Bordeaux is, however, not a despairing work: a quiet meditation on the complexities of life and the self, it ends with a strong affirmation of the beauty of life and a sense of wonder at humanity’s never-ending quest for the unattainable. Puértolas excels at the evocation of fleeting emotions and muted colors: the poetic quality of her prose creates images of haunting beauty and makes Bordeaux an exceptional work that receives my unqualified recommendation. [Susan Ireland]

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