Local writer Lizzie Eldridge is launching her debut novel, Duende (available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other internet bookstores).
Ms Eldridge is a Scottish writer who moved to Malta in 2008 having previously worked as a lecturer in theatre in UK universities. Her second novel, Vandalism, is shortly to be published by Merlin Publishers and she also works as an actor, theatre director and English Language teacher. This year she's performing in Martin Crimp's Attempts on her Life (Unifaun Theatre).
Duende takes place in the years leading up to the Spanish Civil War. Two men fall in love, a relationship which, in public, can never be accepted. Throughout their lives, Nayo, an artist, and José, a philosopher, wrestle with the duende, a force propelling passion, authenticity and fearless confrontation with death.
Their journey coincides with that of real-life people: Salvador Dalí, Ortega y Gasset and, most significantly, Federico García Lorca who becomes their friend. Nayo and José are part of this wider movement in European art when creativity flourished amid escalating violence.
Provoking parallels with the instability of our contemporary world, Duende unfolds within a complex and vibrant landscape in which survival is paramount while existence is tenuous and forever under threat.
The book launch will be held at The National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta on Thursday, 23 April at 7.30pm. Speakers during the launch include Dr Giuliana Fenech (Department of English, University of Malta), Chris Gatt (Arts Management Consultant), Mario Gerada (Social Activist, MA in Spirituality) and Prof. Carmel Vassallo (Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies, University of Malta)
For more information contact the writer on 9904 0730, email: [email protected]
What people had to say about the book
"One of the great love stories in literature" - George Polley, Amazon
"Lizzie Eldridge has woven together so many different strands, so many different characters (many of them real, all realistic), so many ideas into a powerful, colourful, terrible and poignant story" - Paul T., Amazon
"If duende is a word that cannot be translated into English, Lizzie Eldridge does exactly that for the English speaking world. Not only does she translate duende in her novel but she captures all of its intense experience of both pain and ecstasy" - Mario Gerada, Amazon
"Beautifully written account of a love story between a painter and a philosopher, both striving to bring ideas together against the background of Spain being torn apart between the wars" - Coppi, Amazon
Cover image: 'The Divide of Reason', a painting by Damian Ebejer