The Bitch

Set on Colombia’s Pacific coast, The Bitch by Pilar Quintana is a portrait of a woman wrestling with abandonment, love, and her need to nurture. Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman, the narrative follows the main character’s adoption of a dog that disappears into the jungle; when the dog returns, she nurses it to health but when it flees once more, there are brutal consequences."— National Book Foundation, *2020 National Book Award Longlist in Translated Literature*

“The magic of this sparse novel is its ability to talk about many things, all of them important, while seemingly talking about something else entirely. What are those things? Violence, loneliness, resilience, cruelty. Quintana works wonders with her disillusioned, no-nonsense, powerful prose.” —Juan Gabriel Vásquez, author of The Sound of Things Falling

 “The Bitch is a novel of true violence. Artist that she is, Pilar Quintana uncovers wounds we didn’t know we had, shows us their beauty, and then throws a handful of salt into them.”—Yuri Herrera, author of Signs Preceding the End of the World

“A searing psychological portrait of a troubled woman contending with her instinct to nurture is at the heart of Colombian writer Quintana’s slim, potent English-language debut…The brutal scenes unfold quickly, with lean, stinging prose. Quintana’s vivid novel about love, betrayal, and abandonment hits hard.” —Publishers Weekly, *Starred Review*

“A very sensual book that gets under your skin. An overwhelming exploration of maternal desire in the beautiful landscapes of Colombia.” —Leïla Slimani, author of The Perfect Nanny

“A somber and sensitive dog-and-owner tale scrubbed clean of the genre’s usual sweetness. “Quintana patiently explores [the] darkening mood…an intense story” —Kirkus Reviews

“Engrossing…The Bitch is a subtle, moving novel about a struggle to overcome loneliness in an eerie place, among memorable people and animals.” —Foreword Reviews

 “The Bitch by Colombian writer Pilar Quintana is a devastating portrayal of the aching, unbearable weight that can be felt from guilt, violence, the drive to nurture and the need for human connection.” —Shelf Awareness

“Beautifully captures the eerie, wild setting near both the jungle and the ocean. The characters are unforgettable...This is a gorgeous heartbreak of a novel.” —BookRiot

"This book changes you. It looks deeply into motherhood, cruelty and just how unyielding nature can be, with its wild Colombian coast landscape, which is as gorgeous as it is brutal. The result is unforgettable." —Mariana Enríquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire