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.
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.
Silver, Sword & Stone
By Marie Arana

A trio of themes dominates the saga, argues the author: mineral wealth, violence, and spirituality.
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.
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.”