SANTA VELA'S VOICE IN THE BLACK MOTHERS, BY PATRICIA ESTEBAN ERLES

The narrative of Patricia Esteban Erles has given, from the beginning, a strong relevance to the spaces where the action takes place. Some of them are inspired by the properties of novels and films, as in the case of Manderley-the mansion of the film Rebecca, by Hitchcock- and the Winchester Mistery House. The main setting of the novel Las madres negras, the convent of Santa Vela, is a crucial element for the conformation of the gothic, the sinister and the fantastic, features that are masterfully combined in this work. This paper highlights the architectural characteristics of the space and its relationship with the plot of the novel. It also approaches the protagonism of the building as a character, the importance of its voice throughout the novel and the projection of the mind of its original owner in its construction, based on the theory of Maria Tatar, Sigmund Freud, Anthony Vidler and Gaston Bachelard, among others.