Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda
Longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR
“Life’s a bitch. That’s why you gotta rattle her cage, even if she’s foaming at the mouth.” In the linked stories of Reservoir Bitches, thirteen Mexican women prod the bitch that is Life and become her. From the all-powerful daughter of a cartel boss to the victim of transfemicide, from a houseful of spinster seamstresses to a socialite who supports her politician husband by faking Indigenous roots, these women spit on their own reduction and invent new ways to endure, telling their own stories in bold, unapologetic voices. At once a work of dark humor and social critique, Reservoir Bitches is a raucous debut from one of Mexico’s most thrilling new writers.
Longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR
“Life’s a bitch. That’s why you gotta rattle her cage, even if she’s foaming at the mouth.” In the linked stories of Reservoir Bitches, thirteen Mexican women prod the bitch that is Life and become her. From the all-powerful daughter of a cartel boss to the victim of transfemicide, from a houseful of spinster seamstresses to a socialite who supports her politician husband by faking Indigenous roots, these women spit on their own reduction and invent new ways to endure, telling their own stories in bold, unapologetic voices. At once a work of dark humor and social critique, Reservoir Bitches is a raucous debut from one of Mexico’s most thrilling new writers.
Longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR
“Life’s a bitch. That’s why you gotta rattle her cage, even if she’s foaming at the mouth.” In the linked stories of Reservoir Bitches, thirteen Mexican women prod the bitch that is Life and become her. From the all-powerful daughter of a cartel boss to the victim of transfemicide, from a houseful of spinster seamstresses to a socialite who supports her politician husband by faking Indigenous roots, these women spit on their own reduction and invent new ways to endure, telling their own stories in bold, unapologetic voices. At once a work of dark humor and social critique, Reservoir Bitches is a raucous debut from one of Mexico’s most thrilling new writers.
“Reservoir Bitches offers a foundation on which working-class, provincial, and otherwise marginalized writers in Mexico and elsewhere can add the detail necessary to transform tales into nuanced stories that reflect the richness of the world of their protagonists.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dahlia de la Cerda is a writer and activist based in Aguascalientes, Mexico. She is the author of Perras de reserva, which won the 2019 Premio Nacional de Cuento Joven Comala, and Desde los zulos. She is also the cofounder of the feminist organization Morras Help Morras. Reservoir Bitches is her English-language debut.
