The Will to Heal: Psychological Recovery in the Novels of Latina Writers

These novels are presented in two groups. Diaconú, Fingueret, and Valenzuela explore the psychological effects of the Argentine Dirty War of 1976 to 1983, while Sefchovich, Restrepo and Castillo, examine more general sociocultural issues of politics and gender in Mexico, Columbia, and the United States. This literature, authored by and about women, reveals the uncertain journey of the protagonist who, in order to heal life's wounds, faces the forbidden and painful territory of the autobiographical process and the consequences for the individual and community that this interior journey has.