Mallorcan author Laura Gost was awarded the prestigious Premi Proa de Novel·la (Proa Novel Award) on November 7th 2023 with her new novel, Les cendres a la piscina (The Ashes in the Pool), which will be published by Proa on November 15th 2023 in the original Catalan. The award ceremony was held on November 7th at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona. All translation and audiovisual rights are currently available.
Laura Gost is the author of two previous novels: La cosina gran (The eldest cousin), which was published by Lleonard Muntaner in 2018 and translated into Spanish (Temas de Hoy), Italian (Planeta Dea Libri), and Greek (World Books), with a film adaptation currently under development; and El món es torna senzill (The World Becomes Easy), published by Empúries in 2022 and translated into Spanish with Editorial Barrett.
Les cendres a la piscina (The Ashes in the Pool) is the story of a Mallorcan family that revolves around the figure of the patriarch, Sebastià, a peasant farmer who ends up getting rich by building hotels for tourists.
The novel opens during Sebastià's last day of life. He passes away in bed shortly after blowing out eighty-first birthday candles, accompanied by his Venezuelan caretaker. During these final moments, Sebastià has a thought for each of the three women who have been with him throughout his life: Catalina, mother of their two children, Mercedes, and the Brazilian Leidi.
Over the years, words like success, money, work, love, sex, and family have taken on meanings unknown to Sebastià. Beneath this familial arrangement, the reader can discern the curious and often caustic gaze of a very young someone who aims to understand and record these fleeting lives.
For more information about the above title, please contact Anna Soler-Pont (anna@pontas-agency.com).