Antonia Scott, the protagonist of Spanish journalist and author Juan Gómez-Jurado’s Red Queen thriller series, has a fascination for rare words from different languages. In the second book of the series, Black Wolf, published by Pan MacMillan in April, Antonia finds the Tamil word, erupararkkiratu — roughly translating to rare or impossible, like pigs can fly.
“When I wrote Red Queen, finding words that were special in other languages that would also serve the plot was difficult,” says Juan over a video call from Madrid. “When Red Queen was published, I had readers sending me words; one reader even complied a small book of special words! I got the Tamil word from a friend who is a translator in Mumbai. She sent me a couple of words. I chose erupararkkiratu as it felt special and connected to the story.”
Triangle of intent
Hovik Keuchkerian as Jon Gutiérrez and Vicky Luengo as Antonia Scott in a still from Red Queen
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Special Arrangement
Fascinated by the number of languages in the Indian subcontinent, Juan says, there are connections between the material world, language and the soul. “Somewhere in the centre of that triangle are practices specific to that culture. The fact that there are eight billion ways of approaching the world fascinates Antonia. She is on an impossible quest to understand herself by understanding how others feel.”
Red Queen, published in Spanish in 2018 and in English in 2023, features Antonia being coaxed out of her attic flat in Madrid by Jon Gutiérrez, a disgraced policeman from Bilbao, to track a serial killer. The Red Queen in the title is a reference to the Red Queen Project, which collects brilliant minds around the world to solve crimes that stumped global law enforcement agencies. Red Queen, also has the obvious Alice in Wonderland link.
“There are many connections in my books,” says the 46-year-old author. “There are ideas within ideas. I do not want to give away spoilers for the third installment of the Red Queen series, White King (to be released in March 2025). Let’s say there is a strong connection between Alice in Wonderland and the works of Arthur Conan Doyle in Red Queen. In Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen runs to remain in the same place.”
Hovik Keuchkerian as Jon Gutiérrez and Vicky Luengo as Antonia Scott in a still from Red Queen
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Special Arrangement
This, Juan says, connects the title to the theory of evolution, where species must constantly evolve to keep their place. “Similarly, to keep pace with criminals, an investigator must evolve. A red-and-white chess set plays an important part in the book and is another connection between the Red Queen and Alice.”
Superficial similarities
Though Antonia has been compared to Lisbeth Salander, the bisexual, tattooed protagonist of Steig Larsson’s Millennium series, Juan says the similarities are superficial. “When you have a strong female character leading a thriller, Lisbeth obviously comes to mind. Lisbeth is a wonderful character and I love her. The characters, however, are different. Lisbeth is a hacker, political and mostly works alone. For Antonia, her intelligence is a burden and a curse.”
If one needs to find similarities, Juan says, Antonia has more in common with Don Quixote. “Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who incidentally are based on Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, are also the inspiration for Antonia and Jon Gutiérrez. Just like you need Watson to understand Holmes, Gutiérrez is necessary to understand Antonia.”
Antonia, Juan says is a prototype. “She is every fictional detective we have read in the last century and a half, from Edgar Allen Poe to Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, who perfected the formula of this particular type of character, a finder of truth.”
Change of pace
Black Wolf marks a change of pace from the ticking clock in Red Queen. “When you read Red Queen, you think it is a search for a serial killer. Black Wolf changes what you thought you felt when reading Red Queen;and White King will change things around again. It is like the tropes you think you understand and then discover you do not.”
Antonia’s main job, Juan says, is not to find the killer or save someone who is in peril, but to understand what story she is in. “The readers too must discover what kind of story they are in. This is a non-relatable genre. It is not exactly a thriller, a detective story or a serial-killer story.”
Character study
Black Wolf has three strong women characters, Antonia, Lola and the assassin known as the Black Wolf. Writing these characters was easy, Juan says. “There are four million women on this planet and many strong women. I know a lot of them and it was easy for me to create strong women. No one has ever asked me how I am able to write such a complex serial killer!”
Animals do not fare very well in the books, with a horse meeting a sticky end in Red Queen and Kot, the Caucasian shepherd, stopping a bullet in Black Wolf. “I love animals. I have noticed however, in fiction, different things create different emotions. I was watching John Wick in the theatre and when the dog is shot, there was a collective gasp, while there was no reaction to the many people who were shot in the movie!”
All you need is love
The trilogy can be looked at as a love story, says Juan. “The most important thing for me is love and the main end of the story. We can do a lot of things, build bridges, write poems, and go to space, but the only thing that distinguishesus from animals is our compassion.”
The love of Antonia’s life, her husband, who is in coma, and Jon, who is gay, has not had much success. “Love is amorphous. I feel love for my wife and children, and am loved by my father. It is important to be able to feel love and that is what Antonia and Jon feel for each other. A key part of their journey is to grow mature enough to show each other, that no matter how many mistakes they commit, they are worthy of love. Romantic love for them is a possibility but not crucial.”
On screen
A seven-episode series — that shares its monkier with the book series, Red Queen, it has been adapted from stars Vicky Luengo as Antonia and Hovik Keuchkerian as Jon — is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. “I am very fond of it. Being the executive producer helps. I was involved in the casting and am close to the director, Koldo Serra. The series feels like an extension of my books. Antonia and Jon are not only in my brain, they are a part of me, like family and I need to take care of them and be sure that their screen avatars are their best versions.”
The show has been renewed for the second season. “We are writing in the script right now. It will be based on Black Wolf and will be close to the book. The first season was a fairly faithful adaptation of Red Queen and the readers appreciated that.”
How closely an adaptation follows the source material depends on what one is planning to do and one’s approach, says Juan. “The characters in Red Queen are special. If you do not follow the original, it might be risky as the nuances might be lost.”
Black Wolf priced at ₹750 is available at bookstores and online.
Published – September 06, 2024 05:26 pm IST
