La mucama de Omicunlé

(UK/USA, And Other Stories); (Germany, Wagenbach)

«Flow fiction, syncopated with street poetry phrasing, with the cadence of merengue on speed and a strange taste set to beat poetry sifted
through the filter of magical realism» El País

“The novel cautions the reader about the undeniable and inevitable destruction of our world and portrays a clear picture of what will happen if we do not stop the process of dehumanization and violence.” Caribbean News Now

“This overwhelming novel, which enshrines Rita Indiana as narrator, contains many layers and fascinating twists […] few other works of fiction speak of contemporary art as precisely as La mucama de omicunle."  Book depository

(The Omicunlé maid) This overwhelming novel has been called the blossoming of Rita Indiana as a writer. There are so many layers and fascinating twists in her writing that she defies any attempt at synthesis. She breaks any possible mold. The story begins in the flat of a Santera priestess and adviser to Dominican President Esther Escudero, Omicunlé. Through an Afrocuban rite she comes to serve the Sea Goddess Yemayá. Her young maid, Alcide Figueroa, was saved from a life of prostitution by Esther and another key character: Eric Vitier. She's about to experience a story of pasts, presents and futures, in a vertiginous narration that, at times, seems totally impossible. The Afrocuban deities who inhabit the Caribbean Sea, traditional and electronic music, sex in all its forms (even sex change), the buccaneers of the 17th Century and Goya's engravings also lay the groundwork for this text full of intrigue and desire.