Home and Away: Con la miel en los labios by Esther Tusquets in the Light of 'En la ciudad sin mar'

Abstract

This article offers a reading of Con la miel en los labios by Esther Tusquets in the light of her earlier piece of short fiction 'En la ciudad sin mar', part of Siete miradas en un mismo paisaje. After surveying the similarities in both plot and characterization between the two texts, the article goes on to study the divergences along with their consequences and effects. These can be grouped into three areas: firstly, the earlier piece had a single protagonist, whereas the novel uses a dual-protagonist structure that gives centre-stage to a relationship rather than one individual within it. Secondly, the main narrative has moved from Madrid in 'Ciudad', where the Barcelonan main character felt like a foreigner, to the home town — again Barcelona — of the two protagonists of Miel. Lastly, the point of view has been transferred from the younger, richer, and more spoilt of the two women in the short story, to the more mature and less privileged lover of the novel. The multiple and enmeshed effects of these three key changes are studied by the article, which concludes that, in spite of the similarities between the two stories, the ideas put forward in the novel are significantly altered relative to the earlier piece.