Along with Agustín Martínez and Jorge Díaz, Antonio Mercero is one of the three authors who collectively write under the literary and best-selling pseudonym Carmen Mola. He participated in the first day of Tenerife Noir. The writer travelled to the island to present the latest of Mola’s titles, El Infierno. The event was hosted by the expert and member of the jury of the Santa Cruz de Novela Criminal Award, Elizabeth López.
“Usually, we, the Mola trio, attend events as a team of three, so it is quite unusual for one of us to come alone, which means I’ll have to be very attentive today to respond well to all the questions,” he joked at the beginning of the event, which was also the first one the event holds at the Palacio de Carta, in the central plaza of La Candelaria.
El Infierno is a historical thriller that starts with a love story and takes readers straight to 19th century Cuba, when it was still a Spanish territory. “It is not often mentioned that Spain was also a slave-holding state. It was an opulent territory sustained by abuse and slavery,” he emphasized.
Mercero acknowledged that that period of history may have been whitewashed because those who returned from Cuba “returned immensely rich; they are fortunes of great families that still exist today”.
When asked by the host about the necessity of apologizing for past issues, Mercero argued that “it is more important to conduct a historical review without silly whitewashing. I will never understand why politics delves into the field of history, but it is something that happens”.
The Mola trio once again immerses themselves fully in the 19th century because they consider it a “turbulent” but not “sufficiently known” historical period. Mercero also reflected on the importance of the documentation process. “First and foremost, it is a matter of respect for the reader, who deserves us to tell them accurately what was happening at that time. On the other hand, the writer must feel comfortable writing in that era, and for that, this documentation is essential, although sensitivity and imagination are also necessary.” Tenerife Noir also served to announce an upcoming release. Carmen Mola will publish the fifth and final instalment of Inspector Elena Blanco’s saga in October. “Enough is enough, the characters have been sufficiently explored,” Mercero said.
He also pointed out things he doesn’t appreciate about the audiovisual adaptation of The Gypsy Bride. One of them is the fact that the age of the actress playing the protagonist, Nerea Barros, is ten years younger than the character in the book, Elena Blanco.
“We created that character precisely to stand up for women over 50, who in cinema simply cease to appear.” However, he considers the adaptation to be “dignified” and that the director has managed to capture the darkness of the story. “Because we have never been patronizing towards the reader and we have realized that they are capable of accepting harshness”.
Regarding the challenge of continuing to craft captivating stories, he opined that it is a common fear among all writers. “Whether you have written many or few, crafting a new novel is always a challenge in front of readers like the current ones who have so many references, especially in the crime genre. The key is to be original with surprising yet believable twists. One must balance sensationalism with plausibility.”
