One ofBBC's 10 Books to Read in August an altogether fresh take on the coming-of-age story...Boullosa manages to merge humor with panic seamlessly. — Publishers Weekly Starred Review Carmen Boullosa is, in my opinion, a true master. —Alvaro Mutis
Part bildungsroman, part ghost story, part revenge novel,Beforetells the story of a woman who returns to the landscape of her childhood to overcome the fear that held her captive as a girl. This powerful exploration of the path to womanhood and lost innocence won Mexico's two most prestigious literary prizes.
Carmen Boullosa, one of Mexico's leading writers, has published nearly twenty novels. Her most recent novel,Texas: The Great Theft, won the 2014 Typographical Era Translation Award and was shortlisted for the 2015 PEN Translation Award.
A profound and moving coming-of-age novel that explores the end of one woman's innocence in childhood.
• Lives in New York, teaches at City College of New York, very active in the New York literary scene
•Beforewon the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize, the most prestigious prize given for a single novel in Mexico
• Boullosa has been awarded numerous prizes around the world, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Liberaturpreis of Frankfurt, the Anna Seghers, and the Caf? Gij?n Prizes
• Longtime host of the TV show, Nueva York, at CUNY-TV, that explores the rich textures of the Hispanic cultural life in that city, for which she has won five NY-EMMYS
• Her work is taught in numerous university courses throughout North America
One ofBookriot's 50 Must-Read Modern Classics in Translation
This 1989 novel from one of Mexicos most prolific authors won the Xavier Villarutia Prize, the countrys most prestigious literary award. In its first English translation, Before offers a perfect introduction to Boullosas fluil“'
![Before [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/5/0/3/2_86067.jpg)