Las que quedan

Las que quedan is my first attempt at a novel. It began years ago—or perhaps it has been with me for as long as I can remember. My dad was killed when I was a child, and writing has always been my way of trying to understand who I am after his death. I have written poems and stories, but I wanted a novel. This is that novel.

At first, I was working on an autofiction project, but I soon realized that my true focus was memory—and memory is an invention. During my master’s program, I came to understand that this story was not just about my dad but also about me: the one who was left behind, the one who is alive. I needed to create a narrator who was trying to understand who her father was in order to understand herself.

Two things are central to this novel: the way memory is shaped through repetition and the importance of speaking openly about those we have lost. Our dead are part of our lives; they shape who we are. But this is also a story about moving forward. For the narrator, that means growing apart from her father—not to forget him, but to fully become herself. To build the life she wants, embracing the fact that she is the woman whose father was killed when she was a child, but also someone who has grown into much more than that. The cat is a main character that will help her understand.