Seattle Latinx Bookclub - Abyss
Join us in comunidad as we discuss Abyss by Pilar Quintana
This month, we'll be discussing Los Abismos (Abyss). By the Colombian author of The Bitch, a 2020 National Book Award Finalist and PEN Awards Winner. As always, our number one priority is creating comunidad. So please feel free to attend even if you didn't get a chance to finish the book this month.
Nos vemos pronto!
Where to find the book
You can find a copy of their book on Bookshop.org here
Purchase through Estelita's Library's Bookshop.org storefront, and you'll support Seattle's local Black/Brown-owned justice-focused community bookstore & lending library.
You can also find the book at Seattle Public Library in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.
About the Book
Claudia is an impressionable eight-year-old girl, trying to understand the world through the eyes of the adults around her. But her hardworking father hardly speaks a word, while her unhappy mother spends her days reading celebrity lifestyle magazines, tending to her enormous collection of plants, and filling Claudia’s head with stories about women who end their lives in tragic ways. Then an interloper arrives, disturbing the delicate balance of family life, and Claudia’s world starts falling apart. In this strikingly vivid portrait of Cali, Colombia, Claudia’s acute observations remind us that children are capable of discerning extremely complex realities even if they cannot fully understand them. In Abyss, Quintana leads us brilliantly into the lonely heart of the child we have all once been, driven by fear of abandonment.
About the Authors
Pilar Quintana is a Colombian writer. She was born in Cali and studied at the Javeriana University in Bogota. She is best known for her novels La Perra, which won the IV Award Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana, and Coleccionistas de polvos raros, which won the La Mar de Letras Award.
2026 Meeting Dates & Book Picks
- Sat. 1/31/26 - Ophelia After All, Raquel Marie
- Sat. 2/21/26 - Krik? Krak!, Edwidge Danticat
- Sat. 3/21/2026 - Defectors, Paola Ramos
- Sat. 4/25/2026 - Chilean Poet, Alejandro Zambra
- Sat. 5/2026 - Abyss, Pilar Quintana
- Sat. 6/20/2026 – Our Migrant Souls, Hector Tobar
- Sat. 7/25/2026 - Canto Contigo, Jonny Garza Villa
- Sat. 8/2026 – When Language Broke Open, Alan Pelaez Lopez
- Sat. 9/2026 – So Many Stars, Caro De Robertis
- Sat. 10/24/2026 - Malcriada & Other Stories, Lorraine Avila
- Sat. 11/21/2026 – We Will Be Jaguars, Nemonte Nenquimo
Join us in comunidad as we discuss Abyss by Pilar Quintana
This month, we'll be discussing Los Abismos (Abyss). By the Colombian author of The Bitch, a 2020 National Book Award Finalist and PEN Awards Winner. As always, our number one priority is creating comunidad. So please feel free to attend even if you didn't get a chance to finish the book this month.
Nos vemos pronto!
Where to find the book
You can find a copy of their book on Bookshop.org here
Purchase through Estelita's Library's Bookshop.org storefront, and you'll support Seattle's local Black/Brown-owned justice-focused community bookstore & lending library.
You can also find the book at Seattle Public Library in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.
About the Book
Claudia is an impressionable eight-year-old girl, trying to understand the world through the eyes of the adults around her. But her hardworking father hardly speaks a word, while her unhappy mother spends her days reading celebrity lifestyle magazines, tending to her enormous collection of plants, and filling Claudia’s head with stories about women who end their lives in tragic ways. Then an interloper arrives, disturbing the delicate balance of family life, and Claudia’s world starts falling apart. In this strikingly vivid portrait of Cali, Colombia, Claudia’s acute observations remind us that children are capable of discerning extremely complex realities even if they cannot fully understand them. In Abyss, Quintana leads us brilliantly into the lonely heart of the child we have all once been, driven by fear of abandonment.
About the Authors
Pilar Quintana is a Colombian writer. She was born in Cali and studied at the Javeriana University in Bogota. She is best known for her novels La Perra, which won the IV Award Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana, and Coleccionistas de polvos raros, which won the La Mar de Letras Award.
2026 Meeting Dates & Book Picks
- Sat. 1/31/26 - Ophelia After All, Raquel Marie
- Sat. 2/21/26 - Krik? Krak!, Edwidge Danticat
- Sat. 3/21/2026 - Defectors, Paola Ramos
- Sat. 4/25/2026 - Chilean Poet, Alejandro Zambra
- Sat. 5/2026 - Abyss, Pilar Quintana
- Sat. 6/20/2026 – Our Migrant Souls, Hector Tobar
- Sat. 7/25/2026 - Canto Contigo, Jonny Garza Villa
- Sat. 8/2026 – When Language Broke Open, Alan Pelaez Lopez
- Sat. 9/2026 – So Many Stars, Caro De Robertis
- Sat. 10/24/2026 - Malcriada & Other Stories, Lorraine Avila
- Sat. 11/21/2026 – We Will Be Jaguars, Nemonte Nenquimo
Good to know
Highlights
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- In person
Location
El Quetzal
3211 Beacon Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98144
How do you want to get there?
