Bárbara Mujica
Bárbara Mujica is a novelist, short story writer, scholar, and theater director. Mujica’s latest novel, I Am Venus,explores the identity of the model for the famous Rokeby Venus, the only extant nude of seventeenth-Spanish painter Diego de Velázquez. It is scheduled for publication in summer 2013. Her critically acclaimed novel, Sister Teresa, (Overlook 2007; paperback, Penguin 2008) depicts the life of Teresa de Avila, the most beloved saint of the Spanish-speaking world, after the Virgin. A play based on the novel is currently being developed by The Actors Studio in Los Angeles. Mujica’s novel frida (Overlook 2001; paperback, Plume 2002) was an international bestseller that has appeared in seventeen languages. Based on the tumultuous relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera,frida was a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate. Her other book-length fiction includes The Deaths of Don Bernardo(novel, 1990), Sanchez across the Street (stories, 1997), and Far from My Mother’s Home (stories, 1999; French edition 2007).
36 entries by Bárbara Mujica
The Women Are Up to Something: How Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley, and Iris Murdoch Revolutionized Ethics
By Benjamin J.B. Lipscomb
A fascinating account of four impressive female philosophers.
L.A. Weather: A Novel
By María Amparo Escandón
A Mexican American family navigates change in an exuberant, complicated city brought vividly to life.
Bonhoeffer’s America: A Land without Reformation
By Joel Looper
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The German theologian came to New York twice. What he saw appalled him.
Black Sheep: A Blue-Eyed Negro Speaks of Abandonment, Belonging, Racism, and Redemption
By Ray “BEN” Studevent
The mixed-race son of addicts spends his life struggling to fit in.
Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience
By Nancy Sherman
Nine timeless lessons for living a calmer, happier life.
How We Read Now: Strategic Choices for Print, Screen, & Audio
By Naomi S. Baron
A well-researched, accessible treatise on all the ways we experience and absorb words.
Circles of Madness not only introduced me to an extraordinary poet but launched a lifelong literary friendship.
The Scent of Buenos Aires
By Hebe Uhart; translated by Maureen Shaughnessy
These delicate tales of everyday lives in and around Argentina’s capital reflect on the passage of time and small pleasures.
Igifu
By Scholastique Mukasonga; translated by Jordan Stump
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For Rwandan Tutsis forced into exile, hunger, fear, and grief are constant companions.
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In the precarious world of early 17th-century Germany, Tyll Ulenspiegel learns life is a tightrope.
Silver, Sword & Stone
By Marie Arana
A trio of themes dominates the saga, argues the author: mineral wealth, violence, and spirituality.
The celebrated Romanian novelist and playwright discusses the fiction of protest, experimental theater, and her invincible, positive outlook.
In Braided Memories, Marjorie Agosín pays homage to her great-grandmother, who escaped Nazi-dominated Vienna and made her way to Chile.
The Scent of Buenos Aires: Stories
By Hebe Uhart; translated by Maureen Shaughnessy
These delicate tales of everyday lives in and around Argentina’s capital reflect on the passage of time and small pleasures.
Quichotte: A Novel
By Salman Rushdie
A traveling salesman struggles to distinguish between reality and fantasy in this uneven re-imagining of Don Quixote.
A trio of themes dominates the saga, argues the author: mineral wealth, violence, and spirituality.
The White Islands
By Marjorie Agosín; translated by Jacqueline Nanfito
One of Chile’s most celebrated poets captures the voice and soul of Sephardic women.
The Sagrada Família: The Astonishing Story of Gaudí’s Unfinished Masterpiece
By Gijs Van Hensbergen
A fascinating depiction of an architect and his struggle to create a singular basilica.
The Tenderness of God: Reclaiming Our Humanity
By Gillian T.W. Ahlgren
An acclaimed theologian delivers a delightfully readable exploration of two medieval saints whose ideas are of great contemporary relevance.
Jane Welsh Carlyle and her Victorian World: A Story of Love, Work, Marriage, and Friendship
By Kathy Chamberlain
“A suffering wife…sadly neglected by her...self-absorbed husband” finally gets recognized for her own intelligence.
The White Islands / Las Islas Blancas
By Marjorie Agosín; translated by Jacqueline Nanfito
One of Chile’s most celebrated poets captures the voice and soul of Sephardic women.
The Mortifications: A Novel
By Derek Palacio
The pull of family and Cuba loom large in this fascinating story reminiscent of Márquez.
The Story of a Brief Marriage: A Novel
By Anuk Arudpragasam
A husband and wife struggle to stay alive for a single day during the Sri Lankan civil war.
Marlene: A Novel of Marlene Dietrich
By C.W. Gortner
This biographical novel about a Hollywood legend draws in readers from the very first line.
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
By Sebastian Junger
A thoughtful reconsideration of war and PTSD.
Enkindling Love: The Legacy of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross
By Gillian T.W. Ahlgren
Country of Red Azaleas: A Novel
By Domnica Radulescu
Despite war, separation, and loss, two women find strength in their love for one another.
Simone: A Novel
By Eduardo Lalo; translated by David Frye
A slow-moving yet thoughtful story set in 20th-century San Juan.
The acclaimed Chilean writer discusses revolution, poetry, and the role of Judaism in her life.
Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of Our Soldiers
By Nancy Sherman
A philosophical examination of the toll emotional pain takes on service members.
Isabella: the Warrior Queen
By Kirstin Downey
This compelling, thoughtful biography humanizes the iconic Spanish monarch.
The Train to Warsaw: A Novel
By Gwen Edelman
Two lovers haunted by the Holocaust return to Poland to find nothing of their past remains.
The Castle of Whispers: A Novel
By Carole Martinez
The bestselling French author transports readers to 12th-century France, while still providing hard-hitting social commentary.
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly
Sun-Mi Hwang; translated by Chi-Young Kim; illustrated by Nomoco
A deceptively simple barnyard fable broaches many existential themes.
The Sound of Things Falling
Juan Gabriel Vásquez
Memories of brutality form a common language for the people of Bogotá, Colombia. Can these citizens build a future different from the past?
My Father’s Ghost Is Climbing in the Rain
Patricio Pron, translated by Mara Faye Lethem
A young writer estranged from his past wrestles with the suppressed truth of his father’s political activity during Argentina’s “dirty war.”