The Wild One - Isabel-Clara Simo

The arrival of the very young Dorothy - fourteen years old, redheaded, freckled - is a breath of fresh air in the life of Joaquim Simon - in his sixties, rich and divorced. Wanting to turn this 'wild one' into a perfect model of which he can be proud, Joaquim takes her in and begins to shape her into his perfect masterpiece, as in the myth of Pygmalion. Dependence and survival, destruction and growth, are the opposites that define the crossroads of experiences and events that shape The Wild One. The novel tells the story of Dorothy, a girl who, living with Joaquim Simon and in the midst of a desire that is never fulfilled, loses her individual freedom and, at the same time, imperceptibly changes her identity. Joaquim controls everything: her name, her behaviour, her education, even her memories. These feelings of possession towards her make him aware not only of his loneliness and cruelty, but also of his old age. The Wild One is structured in such a way that, from our position as readers, we are forced to participate in the thoughts of these two characters through the use of parentheses that complete what is not said. This strategy not only heightens the tension, but also makes us complicit in their transformations and secrets, anticipating their dramatic end.