Queen of the South (novel)
Queen of the South is a novel by the Spanish writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte . It was published in Spain in 2002 under the title La Reina del Sur , the German edition with 558 pages was published in 2003 by List-Verlag, Berlin. The story is told by Teresa Mendoza from Culiacán in the Mexican state of Sinaloa , who turns from a money changer to the head of a powerful drug cartel. She is called "Queen of the South".
background
The story of the Mexican drug trafficker Sandra Ávila Beltrán , the “Queen of the Pacific”, is said to have served Pérez-Reverte as a model for his character, Teresa Mendoza.
action
The book is told alternately from two perspectives. On the one hand as a report by a journalist who wants to write a book about the life of the «Queen of the South» and interviews people who met Teresa, and on the other hand as a description of Mendoza’s experiences. The latter extend over a period of twelve years.
The story begins in Culiacan. Teresa receives a call: She is told that her friend Güero Davila, a pilot in the service of Epifanio Vargas, one of the country's most important drug traffickers, has been killed and that her life is also in danger. Teresa decides to flee and asks her godfather Epifanio for help. He advises her to start a new life in Melilla , Spain, in North Africa.
There she met Santiago Fisterra, who smuggled tobacco and hashish between Morocco and Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar . Teresa accompanies him on his journeys and learns the tricks of the trade. Fisterra is killed during a fight at sea with the police. Teresa survived but was arrested and sentenced to prison.
In prison she meets Pati O'Farell, who is also in prison for drug trafficking. After their release they start smuggling drugs between Spain and Morocco with the support of Oleg Yasikov from the Russian underworld and the Moroccan Colonel Abdelkader Chaib. Thanks to her numerical skills and her creative ideas, Teresa Mendoza became a successful drug trafficker who soon controlled the European drug trade. The money is laundered through its own trading company, Transer Naga, and the local police can always evade investigations. Your business partner Pati O'Farell has a serious accident in a car. She feels that Teresa is not being taken seriously, becomes depressed and takes her own life.
Teresa begins a relationship with her married accountant Teo Aljarafe and becomes pregnant by him. When she discovers that Teo has betrayed her to the authorities and has cheated out of large sums of money, she has him shot by her bodyguard Pote Galves.
Willy Rangel, an agent of the American DEA , reveals to Teresa that Güero Davila was actually a government agent charged with gathering information about the Sinaloa cartel . He recorded his observations in a notebook that Teresa read. Epifanio Vargas had exposed Güero and ordered his murder.
The DEA offers Teresa the opportunity to return to Mexico on condition that she use the information in the notebook to testify against Vargas and thus prevent his election as Senator for Sinaloa State. In return, all investigations against them should be stopped.
The night before the testimony, the house in which she is a guest is attacked by unspecified men; their protection force has withdrawn. With the help of her bodyguard Pote, she manages to escape, while Pote comes to life.
The testimony before the public prosecutor ended Epifano's political ambitions. What happens to Teresa Mendoza afterwards and where she gives birth to her child remains open.
reception
“By chance, the heroine Teresa Mendoza started a breakneck career and a rise from the little drug bride in the Mexican city of Culiacan to an unconditionally ruling cocaine queen who controls the European drug trade. The reader experiences this ascent as if in a frenzy, which is mainly due to the great narrative art of the author. Against all moral objections he let the reader feel great sympathy for his highly criminal heroine. "
The novel has been translated into numerous languages.
music
The corrido that the journalist mentions on the last page of the novel actually exists. Several Mexican music groups tell the story of Teresa Mendoza in song form. a. Los Cuates de Sinaloa and Los Tigres del Norte .
Film adaptations
The novel served as a template for two TV series:
- The first episode of the first of two seasons of the Spanish-language series La Reina del Sur was released on February 28, 2011. The main role of Teresa Mendoza is played by the Mexican actress Kate del Castillo , her opponent Epifanio Vargas is played by Humberto Zurita . The first season more or less follows the book, the second has nothing to do with the book.
- The American series Queen of the South was released on June 23, 2016. Alice Braga plays the leading role, Joaquim de Almeida is Epifanio Vargas. The series is based on the novel only in the opening scenes, afterwards the story takes a completely different course.