Photo: Sonsoles Ónega. Fountain: Planet of Books.
The Madrid journalist and writer Sonsoles Ónega is the winner of the 72nd Planeta Prize. He has won this award thanks to The maid's daughters (2023), a novel that immerses the reader in the most rural Galicia and in a family full of secrets. Ónega surely wanted to imbibe this story and its characters from the Galician roots that his own family has.
For its part, The finalist for the award is Alfonso Goizueta, a 24-year-old young man who has been recognized for his efforts despite his youth.. She entered the famous literary contest with a historical novel, The blood of the father, a story about Alexander the Great. This and The maid's daughters They are published next November 8.
Winner of the 2023 Planeta Prize: Sonsoles Ónega
Sonsoles Ónega Salcedo was born in Madrid in 1977. She is a writer and journalist who has also been in charge of various information and entertainment spaces as a television presenter. She is the daughter of the Galician journalist Fernando Ónega and sister of Cristina Ónega who has also followed the same profession.
He studied Journalism at the CEU San Pablo University and has worked for many years in the group Mediaset. It started there in 2005 and Since 2022 he has run an evening space in Atresmedia, And now Sonsoles, in which current affairs and live news are discussed. However, she has also been in CNN+, riding a Four and in the news Telecinco, where she was a reporter broadcasting from the Congress of Deputies. Other programs in which she has participated during her journalistic career are it's already noon o The afternoon of COPE.
In her role as a writer, she has won several awards, such as the Letras Award for Short Novels (2004), the Fernando Lara Novel Award (2017) for After Love, and now it has been consecrated with the Planeta Prize thanks to The maid's daughters. In 2004 he began his literary career with the publication of the novel Calle Habana, corner of Obispo.
Ónega has two children and has stated how difficult it is to combine a professional career with motherhood, which is why she has had to double down to finish her novels while working on television. With the recognition of the awards organized annually by Editorial Planeta, the writer will receive one million euros. Alfonso Goizueta, as a finalist, receives 200.000 euros.
about his work
The Maid's Daughters: The Winning Novel
Like all those presented in the contest, this novel was registered under a pseudonym, in particular that of Gabriela Monte. For the author, it represents a type of recognition towards the land of her childhood., return to the place where he grew up and where his family roots are from.
The maid's daughters tells the family history of the Valdés, a wealthy lineage that made its fortune thanks to salt, sugar and preserves. The story takes place between a Galician manor and Cuba. But What stands out about the plot are the female characters, since they will have a decisive weight in demonstrating the strength of women, as well as their influence on the future of events. Despite everything being against them at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, and having to deal with betrayals and the men of the family.
In this story secrets and betrayals abound. In February 1900, two girls were born in the same Galician country house: Clara and Catalina.. The two are sisters, the lord of the manor is her father, but they do not share the same maternal blood. One of them will be destined to have a very different life than expected when her mother, a local servant, exchanges her with the other baby, the legitimate daughter of the lords. With a tremendous premise, emotions and novelistic recreation are assured.
Other works
- Calle Habana, corner of Obispo (Septem Ed., 2005). It is a portrait of the political and social situation that Cuba is experiencing. Set in the 90s, the preservation of the house in which he lived such good times with his wife will become a father's obsession, while his son is on the front line fighting for change.
- Where God was not (Grand Guignol Ed., 2009). A novel focused on anonymous characters and the circumstances surrounding the fateful attacks of March 11, 2004 that caused 191 deaths in the capital of Spain.
- Encounters in Bonaval (TH Novel, 2010). The story of Mariana and her family, a young woman who aspires to become a journalist. A legendary city such as Santiago de Compostela also becomes the protagonist of this story.
- We who wanted it all (Planet, 2015) is a fun novel with a nonconformist story about the problems that a successful woman faces when trying to balance family and work.
- After Love (Planet, 2017) It won the 2017 Fernando Lara Novel Prize. It tells the complicated love story between Carmen Trilla, a married woman, and the military man Federico Escofet. It is based on real events and the plot takes place during the civil war.
- A thousand kisses forbidden (Planet, 2020). Costanza and Mauro seem to have a second chance after meeting again after 20 years. However, once again they face the same tough decision: let themselves go after having waited so long or accept the impossibility of their love.
