This is yet another novel of the crisis, and it’s a strong one but, by God, is it bleak or what. La trabajadora is a novel about the effects of precarious labor on people. Navarro belongs to my generation, and we are the people who grew up with the definition of “work” based on a life-long career that helps one achieve fulfillment. So when we see that concept shattered, it messes with our heads.
Navarro’s novel depicts the ways in which precariousness drives people crazy very well. What’s interesting, though, is that younger novelists write about precarious labor in a very different way. Their characters still hate it and find it humiliating but they recognize that it’s also quite exhilarating to live a precarious life.
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