An extract from Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey
Guadalupe Nettel’s fourth novel Still Born, which is shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023, explores one of life’s most consequential decisions
Guadalupe Nettel
Guadalupe Nettel was born in Mexico and grew up ‘between Mexico and France’.
She is the author of the international award-winning novels The Body Where I Was Born (2011), After the Winter (2014, Herralde Novel Prize) and Still Born (2020). She has also written three collections of short stories, all published by Anagrama. Nettel’s work has been translated into more than 15 languages and has appeared in publications such as Granta, the White Review, El País, the New York Times, La Repubblica and La Stampa. She currently lives in Mexico City and is the director of the magazine Revista de la Universidad de México.
Guadalupe Nettel’s novel Still Born was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023, announced on April 18, 2023.
Two best friends share an aversion to “the human shackles” of motherhood, only to discover that life has other plans. With a twisty, enveloping plot, the novel poses some of the knottiest questions about freedom, disability, and dependence – all in language so blunt it burns.
— The International Booker Prize 2023 panel of judges on 'Still Born'
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Guadalupe Nettel’s gripping and insightful fourth novel explores one of life’s most consequential decisions – whether or not to have children.
