Cien botellas en una pared

Published in 2002, Ena Lucía Portela’s (b. 1972) Cien botellas en una pared (One Hundred Bottles on a Wall) is a sharp, humorous, and critical anatomy of a double homicide, set in Havana during the devastating "Special Period" of the 1990s following the collapse of the socialist bloc. The novel, a prominent work in contemporary Cuban literature, has been translated into multiple languages and garnered prestigious awards, including the Jaén de Novela Prize and the Prix Littéraire Deux Océans - Grinzane Cavour.

Narrated by **Zeta**, an aspiring writer surviving through illicit means, the story delves into her tumultuous relationship with Moisés, a former Supreme Court magistrate, whose personal decline mirrors the "fall of gods" and the collapse of utopia. Alongside her friend **Linda Roth**, a thriller writer, **Zeta** guides us through the marginalized, unglamorous Havana not found in tourist guides, a city teeming with resourcefulness, cynicism, and a vibrant, often crude, vernacular language.

Portela’s novel is a postmodern _noir_, engaging with the conventions of detective fiction only to subvert them. It questions traditional notions of crime, truth, and justice, portraying a world where official narratives often clash with grim realities. The text is a masterclass in intertextuality, humor, irony, and meta-fiction, creating a "play of mirrors" between author, characters, and reality. Through **Zeta’s** "innocent" yet piercing observations, **Portela** exposes the harshness of a society grappling with economic hardship, moral ambiguities, political contradictions, and generational divides, cementing her status as a crucial voice among the "novísimos" generation of Cuban writers.