Galician / Spain
Santoamaro
Fraga, Antonio M.
(text)
Vigo: Xerais, 2021. – 123 p.
(Series: Fóra de xogo; 194)
ISBN 978-84-9121-847-0
Coming of age | Friendship | Betrayal | Violence
Reading age: 14+
White Ravens issue: 2021
This story is a kind of chamber drama whose “stage” is clearly demarcated. A dozen youths meet up at Santoamaro beach every Saturday for a whole summer. It’s a time of limbo for everyone. The last school year is over, while the anticipated but uncertain future hasn’t yet begun. School, friendship, music, parties, drugs, love, night swimming in the sea – the summer weeks centre around these things. When it surfaces that one of the girls was raped, friendships are championed, tested, or broken. Conflicts emerge and are endured. Fear, violence, betrayal and loyalty leave lasting impressions. In the short, incisive chapters of “Santoamaro”, Antonio M. Fraga presents believable characters and aptly captures their tone and emotional register. Nothing is sugar-coated, nothing is unnecessarily drawn out or commented by a narrative voice. The brief, direct language is amplified using WhatsApp chats at the start of each chapter. [JW]