Authors Esther Bendahan

Born in Tetuan in 1964 in a Spanish Sephardic family.  She studied psychology and French in Madrid.  Currently she is assistant to the director of the TV2 program Shalom and regularly contributes articles and features in several different publications. She is coauthor with Esther Benari of the novel Soñar con Hispania [Dream with Hispania] (2000) and his stories appear in many anthologies. Deshojando alcachofas [Removing artichoke leaves] (Seix Barral) is his first solo novel, which has been very successful with the public and critics.  He has just published his second novel, Déjalo, ya volveremos [Leave it alone, we'll be back], also by Seix Barral. He collaborates on a regular basis as a columnist in the opinion section of the El País newspaper.

She won in 2011 the XXIII Premio de Narrativa Torrente Ballester, for her novel Amor y ley. El tratado del alma gemela.

- "Esther Bendahan molds language with unusual sensitivity that is simultaneously tender and tough, capable of captivating the reader with its conspiratorial intimacy". dosdoce.com

  - "It is well constructed and remarkably nimble.  It draws you in subtly (...) and keeps coaxing you to not put it down, to wait, to keep reading" On Deshojando alcachofas. [De-leafing artichokes] Ángel Castro Maestro.  El Faro. Melilla.  

- "Esther Bendam's writing in Deshojando alcachofas, is solid, serene, unassuming". Leah Bonnín. Cultura Lateral magazine.  

- "The immediacy and credibility of the characters is one of the major achievements of this novel". On Deshojando alcachofas. Care Santos. El Cultural (El Mundo)  

- "A novel that engages through its lyricism, its profound, untiring zeal for life"  On Déjalo, ya volveremos [Forget it, we'll be back soon]. Isabel Gómez. La Vanguardia.  

- "Bendahan is the first to narrate the exile of a Sephardic family in Spain, through a story that utilizes contrasts to maintains constant narrative tension".  On Déjalo, ya volveremos. Leer Magazine.  

- "The panel of judges at Tigre Juan has decided to award the prize to La cara de Marte [The face of Mars] by Esther Bendahan, for its innocence, grace and freshness".  Eugenia Rico, writer, member of the panel of judges of the XIX Tigre Juan Novel Prize.  

- "El secreto de la reina persa [The secret of the Persian queen] tells tales of Esther, a Jewish woman and biblical character who became queen of Persia.  One must note the particular difficulty in telling the life story of such a faraway character whose life has been recounted in texts as ancient as the Bible.  (...) A very beautiful book accompanied by text with very graceful paragraphs and great narrative subtlety.  Bendahan glides through the text softly and slowly.  Sometimes excessively slowly studying every detail.  (...)  A recommendable book for those who want to know something more about this biblical character and for those who are interested in the history of judaism"  Luis Vea García