THE WEASEL AND THE WHORE by Martha Luisa Hernández Cadenas, co-translated with Julia Sanches
The Weasel and the Whore, a novel by Cuban writer and performer Martha Luisa Hernández Cadenas, was published by Héloïse Press in October 2025. The novel is a grim underground portrait of today’s Cuba, where young people struggle to shake off the vestiges of Castroism.
From Monday to Saturday, Mary is a young and talented artist in the artistic, bohemian and fringe circles of Havana. But on Sundays, Mary becomes the sex toy of a high official of the regime. Her condition as a woman and artist, bisexual and alienated from Castroism, inevitably pushes her towards social exclusion, and Mary begins to need a strong reason to remain in Cuba. Winner of an English PEN Translates Award. Longlisted for the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize, formerly know as the Republic of Consciousness Prize. Translated from Spanish.