Description

A punk revival of Medea as a Mexican anti-angel of birth and death, from the International Booker Prize-nominated author of Reservoir Bitches.

In Northern Mexico, Paulina, Perla, Antonia, Reina, and Jordan are striving to survive the barrio, hustling on the edge of a cartel-run economy, nursing the wounds made normal in a world that eats its own. Hovering over their trials is a spirit with gothic flair, dressed in black and crowned with braids: Medea, a mythic mother of the Chihuahuan desert, ancient as the Aztecs but never too old to be petty.

From aiding a trophy girlfriend’s abortion, to accompanying a mother in her search for her lost child in the desert, to embracing those taken too soon in the narco’s brutal proxy wars, Medea fights for justice for her chosen mortals – her divine wrath the only power that could rival the corrupt, violent web spun by the cartel, the government, and the military. Dahlia de la Cerda’s magnetic prose draws readers right into the heart of that web and links all our fates to the missions of Medea, equal parts midwife and gravedigger, a femme fatale god in a femicidal world.

Publisher Review

'Only a novel this inventive and insane could help me understand the complexities of modern Mexico and capture every horror of womanhood. Propulsive and poetic. As sick as it is sexy and as feral as it is tender. I couldn't put it down.' -- Melissa Lozada-Oliva, author of Candelaria 'One of the most promising voices in recent Mexican literature.' * Latin American Literature Today * 'Once again, de la Cerda has given us a collection of stories that is of devastating impact, one whose power slowly grows with each new voice that joins the chorus until the collective coalesces into a passage that absolutely takes you out at the kneecaps. This is a book rich with lineage and allusion, yet it is never quite so powerful as when it is reckoning with the simple cataclysm of a life cut short.' -- Joe Murray * Readings * Praise for Reservoir Bitches: 'Reservoir Bitches is a blisteringly urgent collection of interconnected stories about contemporary Mexican women. It absolutely bangs from the first page to the last. It's extremely funny but deadly serious and we loved the energy and flair of the dual translators' approach. It packs an enormous political and linguistic punch but is also subtle, revelatory, and moving about the ways in which these women hustle, innovate, survive or don't, in a world of labyrinthine dangers. This book weaves the riotous testimony of the living and the dead to create an expletive-rich feminist blast of Mexican literature.' -- Judges' comments from the 2025 International Booker Prize Praise for Reservoir Bitches: 'The stories are all narrated by women, from the daughters of crime bosses to designer-clad socialites, whose voices are all so alive and vibrant that reading this collection was a genuine thrill. Reservoir Bitches doesn't shy from portraying Mexico's gritty underbelly but, much like her fellow countrywoman Fernanda Melchor, De La Cerda's stories scrutinise Mexican society with great humour. It is a remarkably good debut collection.' -- Barry Pierce * The Big Issue * Praise for Reservoir Bitches: 'Women lie, cheat, kill, and die in Mexican writer de la Cerda's searing English-language debut ... de la Cerda offers a refreshingly unapologetic voice for women who refuse to be placated. This is worth a look.' * Publishers Weekly * Praise for Reservoir Bitches: '[de la Cerda's] tactics succeed in creating the enchanting feeling that one is sitting across from each narrator, being told their stories as a close confidante ... The author's demand that we bear witness to the senseless murders, in all their gruesomeness, of these bright young women is sobering and commendable.' * Kirkus Reviews * Praise for Reservoir Bitches: 'This book has the force of an ocean gully: it sucks you in, it drags you through the mud, and it cleans you in equal measure.' -- Andrea Abreu, author of Dogs of Summer