María Jesús Corrales to present second novel, ‘En el corazón de África’

BookGem will host the official Gibraltar presentation of ‘En el corazón de África’ by journalist and author María Jesús Corrales on Thursday, March 12 at 5pm at its premises at 312 Main Street.

The event, sponsored by Gibraltar Culture Services, will include a brief reading and presentation by the author followed by a book signing.

The novel explores themes of identity, love, memory and freedom, and examines links across both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar, with a focus on the role of women at key moments in the recent history of the area.

Its main character, África Martín, is a struggling freelance journalist in Brexit-era London who begins an inner journey after the death of her grandmother, Inmaculada Márquez, during the pandemic, opening the door to a troubled and difficult past.

That search leads her from London to both shores of the Strait of Gibraltar and prompts a family catharsis rooted in memory, identity and the experiences of women across generations.

The novel also seeks to honour the memory of thousands of anonymous women, past and present, whose lives helped shape freedom and civil rights in society today.

“This is a very special moment for me, as Gibraltar and the Campo are always a real inspiration in my writing,” Ms Corrales said.

“Above all, because of their resilient people and their shared stories from both sides of the border.”

“I feel privileged to have found such stories about great women during the 20th century, women who fought all the rights we have today.”

“We owe a big debt to those women and this novel is dedicated to them.”

Ms Corrales, a regular contributor to the Chronicle as its Campo correspondent, returns to fiction with this, her second novel.

Her first novel, ‘Las Expulsadas’, published in 2020, focused on cross-border women from La Línea and the Campo who experienced the closure of the Gibraltar border in 1966.