Novel set in PHILADELPHIA
Short novel set in gritty BENIDORM
29th July 2025
Spanish Beauty by Esther García Llovet, short novel set in gritty BENIDORM
TR: Richard Village
“Benidorm, the city that never sleeps, the city in every time zone at once, the city where the bars are open till the day after tomorrow.”
This is a short, sharp trawl through the underbelly of Benidorm, in the capable hands of Michela McKay; her father is an English ne’er do well, her mother a flamenco dancer and she is going about her daily business as a hard-nut police officer, whilst trying to track down a Dunhill lighter. Not just any lighter but the one her father, Kyle, values and which, not so long ago, belonged to one of the Kray twins (a pair of ghastly gangsters who terrorised London in the 1960s).
The Brits and the Russians are vying for position, and Michela is archly cutting through the dross. There are plenty of stereotypes (I mean, just look at her parents) and there is a mix of sun, sea and sangria. And violence and crime.
The writing is sharp and filmic – witness the reflection in Michela’s sunglasses at one point, SO Miami Vice. It feels like the story is written more with TV in mind than a piece of seismic social commentary in prose. It is quite Chandleresque in its construct, it darted around too much, which lent it a fractured immediacy, fitting for the subject matter.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the period in which it’s set. Two ticks on a phone message would indicate that it is quite contemporary but there are references to a Walkman and paraphernalia of the later 20th Century. Perhaps that is intentional, enabling the narrative to focus on the more generalised and edgy Zeitgeist of the town over the last few decades.
A short and quick read that perhaps won’t stay with me forever, but good at many levels. Benidorm comes through loud and clear.
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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