He who follows it gets it. One must be left with a bad taste in the mouth when one is on the verge of winning a million euros. But Paloma Sánchez-Garnica (Madrid, 1962) confirms that the important thing is to try again. After being the finalist in 2021, the first edition with a millionaire prize, snatched by the male trio behind Carmen Mola, Sánchez-Garnica has finally achieved her Planeta Prize.
"I am the clear example that persisting is worth it," proclaimed an emotional Sánchez-Garnica after collecting the award. "I want to thank the jury for considering my novel, this time yes, worthy of this much-dreamed-of and, I assure you, much-worked-on prize," Sánchez-Garnica added, "I want to show my particular tribute to all those who have submitted their novel to this prize, I am very aware of the amount of work, effort and the load of illusion behind each of its pages; I would tell them, don't give up, I didn't, I got it."
She has done so with her ninth novel, Victoria, in which she tells a story that does not sound at all distant, now that the Cold War no longer seems so past. Sánchez-Garnica has once again placed herself in the middle of the 20th century, as she did in the work with which she was a finalist for the Planeta, Últimos días en Berlín. This time the outcome of the Second World War serves as a starting point for a story starring three women, with a journey that goes from the German capital to the United States and ends up mixed with Russian spies. "Berlin has a lot to tell. It is a city that has been through everything, every corner has a story," defended the winner, who has already written three titles set in it and does not rule out a fourth. This time, the plot begins in 1946 with the execution of high-ranking Nazi officials and ends in 1961 with the beginning of the construction of the wall.
A plot that resonates in the present. "While researching for my latest novel, Últimos días en Berlín (Last Days in Berlin), I discovered that the seed of hatred was not only found in Nazi Germany and the heart of Europe; there were also serious cracks in what was considered the cradle of freedom and rights: the deep South of the United States with its racial segregation laws, or New York with that witch hunt that unleashed a delirious anti-communist persecution," she stated. Despite this historical context, Sánchez-Garnica emphasized that, above all, Victoria is "a story of love and the powerful effect that loving bonds provoke." That is why she did not forget her husband, to whom she thanked for helping her become "an unstoppable woman."
By her side was this year's finalist, Beatriz Serrano (Madrid, 1989), who knows if she was thinking that she also had a chance of being the next winner in a few years, as Sánchez-Garnica encouraged her. In Serrano's case, also a journalist and podcast author, her novel, Fuego en la garganta (Fire in the Throat), moves away from the historical plot and talks about something also very current like loneliness in childhood and bullying, with a victim who acquires superpowers to work miracles, although perhaps she doesn't always use them well and things get out of hand. "Since social networks exist, we no longer see so many miracles," the author pointed out as the reflection that was the germ of the plot, adding that the protagonist's adolescence evolves towards that gothic era that many have gone through, listening to some unlively groups with which to vent existential anger.
With cake included
More than 1,000 attendees filled the Oval Room of the MNAC this Tuesday for the Planeta Award ceremony in the year that the business group celebrates 75 years. The gala was attended by the Kings. "Reading shapes our imagination. We will never be alone if we have a good book by our side," stated Felipe VI. Another prominent presence was that of the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, after the highest representative of the Generalitat had not participated in the ceremony since 2016.
Ministers such as the Minister of Industry, Jordi Hereu, and the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, have also attended, as well as the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, and the President of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Lluïsa Moret, accompanied by representatives of civil and business society. All of them ate a cake for the group's birthday, which has sold more than 1,000 million copies. In the absence of being able to read the new Planeta, attendees took home as a souvenir Prohibida en Normandía by Rosario Raro and Los pecados de Marisa Salas by Clara Sánchez.