Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Bitch
Pilar Quintana
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Bitch
Pilar Quintana
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Bitch, by Pilar Quintana, is the story of Demaris who chooses a puppy out of a box on her way home to her shack above the beach in Colombia. Her husband Rogelio has three dogs, Danger, Mosco, and Olivo. He yells at and beats them, but Demaris protects her puppy against her breasts.
Demaris was raised in a shack by Tio Eliecer and Tia Gilma who bought a piece of land. Other plots were sold. The Reyes family’s house was made of sheet metal. It had a swimming pool, a gazebo, and a wood-fire grill. Their son Nicolasito and Demaris became friends. Their birthdays were on January 1. One day they stood by the sea on slippery rocks. Nicolasito was swept away by a violent wave. The search for his body consumed many days after Demaris told her story. Her uncle whipped her every day that Nicolasito was missing. Thirty-four days later, his body was found, disintegrated. His mother kissed and hugged her son as if he were still handsome. Demaris finally cries.
Things got worse: her uncle’s two boats were wrecked and sank, her mother was hit by a stray bullet and died. Her cousin Luzmila tried to make her laugh but couldn’t. Santos, the local spiritual man cleansed the house and the family’s souls. Tio and Tia separated and their business went bankrupt.
Demaris and Rogelio become the caretakers for the Reyes property, and move into the shack with their few belongings. Made of practical materials, aluminum siding and sturdy cement, the big house remains in good condition. Demaris doesn’t let her puppy follow her into the house for fear she might chew on something or ruin toys or furniture. In Nicolacito’s room, his toys and clothes are left as they had been. The puppy has a special spot in the gazebo. One night after months of drought, rain comes with thunder and lightning. Rogelio’s dogs run barking into the jungle and the puppy follows. When they don’t return soon Demaris goes after them. When she goes back to her bed, her feet are frozen and muddy. She had heard that another of the puppies had been poisoned and she worries. The rain continues and Rogelio comes back from his boat. They go into the jungle to look for the dogs but after finding Rogelio’s three, they cannot find the puppy. Demaris is sure she is dead. She avoids going to Senora Dona’s restaurant because Senora’s puppy is the only one of the eleven left alive.
When Senor Gene disappears, it is thought he had pushed himself out of his wheelchair over the cliff into the sea. But Rogelio knew he wasn’t strong enough. Others thought Senora Rosa had pushed him. When they found his body, Damaris looks upon it. Her dog comes back and Demaris gives it a rich fish soup and rubs lotion into its wounds.
On Mother’s Day her cousin Luzmila shows up with her entire family and they take over the big house of the Reyes. They lounge on the outdoor divans and swim in the pool as if they own it. The puppy runs away again as Rogelio said she would. When it returns, Demaris ties her up with a slip-knot around her neck. Rogelio says she might have strangled and shows Demaris how to tie her properly. She begins to resent the dog and the attention Rogelio is giving her. Rogelio points out the dog is pregnant. Demaris is depressed and does nothing but watch television as her dog grows bigger with babies. Demaris had been unable to conceive during their marriage although she tried everything from potions to prayers.
After the puppies are born, Demaris gives away three of the males but no one wants the female. She becomes a pest, eating more than the other big dogs, chewing everything she finds, and leaving messes where Rogelio steps on them. Demaris promises the female to her friend Ximena but Ximena doesn’t show up for two weeks. A stevedore comes from the docks and wants the female puppy. Demaris gives it to him. Ximena returns and is furious with Demaris. She decides to give Ximena her own puppy whom she doesn’t love any more. But her dog returns repeatedly to the gazebo to sleep. Demaris has thoughts about how to get rid of her.
She also thinks about the boy Nicolacito and how she could have stopped him from standing too close to the waves. She blames herself for his death. Does her dog keep returning to her side from Ximena’s? The author Quintana has the storm of nature copy the storm of Demaris’s emotions. Find this Steinbeck-like novel by a talented young writer on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Demaris was raised in a shack by Tio Eliecer and Tia Gilma who bought a piece of land. Other plots were sold. The Reyes family’s house was made of sheet metal. It had a swimming pool, a gazebo, and a wood-fire grill. Their son Nicolasito and Demaris became friends. Their birthdays were on January 1. One day they stood by the sea on slippery rocks. Nicolasito was swept away by a violent wave. The search for his body consumed many days after Demaris told her story. Her uncle whipped her every day that Nicolasito was missing. Thirty-four days later, his body was found, disintegrated. His mother kissed and hugged her son as if he were still handsome. Demaris finally cries.
Things got worse: her uncle’s two boats were wrecked and sank, her mother was hit by a stray bullet and died. Her cousin Luzmila tried to make her laugh but couldn’t. Santos, the local spiritual man cleansed the house and the family’s souls. Tio and Tia separated and their business went bankrupt.
Demaris and Rogelio become the caretakers for the Reyes property, and move into the shack with their few belongings. Made of practical materials, aluminum siding and sturdy cement, the big house remains in good condition. Demaris doesn’t let her puppy follow her into the house for fear she might chew on something or ruin toys or furniture. In Nicolacito’s room, his toys and clothes are left as they had been. The puppy has a special spot in the gazebo. One night after months of drought, rain comes with thunder and lightning. Rogelio’s dogs run barking into the jungle and the puppy follows. When they don’t return soon Demaris goes after them. When she goes back to her bed, her feet are frozen and muddy. She had heard that another of the puppies had been poisoned and she worries. The rain continues and Rogelio comes back from his boat. They go into the jungle to look for the dogs but after finding Rogelio’s three, they cannot find the puppy. Demaris is sure she is dead. She avoids going to Senora Dona’s restaurant because Senora’s puppy is the only one of the eleven left alive.
When Senor Gene disappears, it is thought he had pushed himself out of his wheelchair over the cliff into the sea. But Rogelio knew he wasn’t strong enough. Others thought Senora Rosa had pushed him. When they found his body, Damaris looks upon it. Her dog comes back and Demaris gives it a rich fish soup and rubs lotion into its wounds.
On Mother’s Day her cousin Luzmila shows up with her entire family and they take over the big house of the Reyes. They lounge on the outdoor divans and swim in the pool as if they own it. The puppy runs away again as Rogelio said she would. When it returns, Demaris ties her up with a slip-knot around her neck. Rogelio says she might have strangled and shows Demaris how to tie her properly. She begins to resent the dog and the attention Rogelio is giving her. Rogelio points out the dog is pregnant. Demaris is depressed and does nothing but watch television as her dog grows bigger with babies. Demaris had been unable to conceive during their marriage although she tried everything from potions to prayers.
After the puppies are born, Demaris gives away three of the males but no one wants the female. She becomes a pest, eating more than the other big dogs, chewing everything she finds, and leaving messes where Rogelio steps on them. Demaris promises the female to her friend Ximena but Ximena doesn’t show up for two weeks. A stevedore comes from the docks and wants the female puppy. Demaris gives it to him. Ximena returns and is furious with Demaris. She decides to give Ximena her own puppy whom she doesn’t love any more. But her dog returns repeatedly to the gazebo to sleep. Demaris has thoughts about how to get rid of her.
She also thinks about the boy Nicolacito and how she could have stopped him from standing too close to the waves. She blames herself for his death. Does her dog keep returning to her side from Ximena’s? The author Quintana has the storm of nature copy the storm of Demaris’s emotions. Find this Steinbeck-like novel by a talented young writer on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.