Eva Baltasar explores abuse and fascination in her novel Peces

Published on May 15, 2026 | Translated from Spanish

Writer Eva Baltasar publishes Peces, a novel that narrates a relationship between two women marked by fascination, emotional imbalance, and abuse. The work reflects on love, chosen solitude, and how a religious education conditions the way emotional bonds are understood. As a tool for introspection, literature allows processing trauma and making sense of pain, offering the reader a perspective on complex dynamics.

Two women in front of the sea in gray tones; one holds a fish, the other watches her with fascination and distance.

Emotional development: algorithms of affective dependence 🧠

If we apply a pattern analysis to the relationship described in Peces, we detect a negative feedback loop: the initial fascination acts as an input variable that triggers growing emotional dependence. The power imbalance is reinforced with each interaction, similar to a system without boundary control. Religious education functions as a legacy software layer that distorts the interpretation of affective signals. Writing, on the other hand, operates as a debugger that allows identifying and rewriting damaged emotional code.

Instruction manual for not dying in the attempt 📘

Baltasar's novel comes with a warning: reading about emotional abuse can be as uncomfortable as finding a wet sock in bed. But hey, at least the protagonist has the decency to write about it, which is more than many do on Tinder after ghosting you. If you're going to suffer, let it be with literary style and not just a text message at 3 in the morning.