Who really was Isabel de Saavedra, daughter of Miguel de Cervantes? And was she really as cruel as history portrays her?
In Episode 25, Martha Bátiz tells me what inspired her to reimagine the stories of Miguel de Cervantes, his sisters, wife, and daughter, Isabel de Saavedra, in her historical novel, A Daughter’s Place.
Set in 16th-century Spain, the historical fiction revolves around Miguel’s daughter, Isabel, who finds out after her mother’s death that her father is the renowned poet and war hero, Miguel de Cervantes.
Isabel is forced to pose as a maid and help her new family as they support Cervantes in writing his famous work, Don Quixote. In doing so, she discovers secrets about her new family and struggles to find a sense of belonging in a society and country groaning under the weight of war, plagues, and colonization.
A Daughter’s Place showcases the strength of four remarkable women as they navigate a critical moment in Spanish history. It’s out now from House of Anansi Press.
Show highlights
- Martha’s inspiring journey from acting to writing
- Why Martha chose to re-examine the intriguing life of Isabel de Saavedra
- How to use voice and characterization to tell a unified story
- The role of the Moors in 16th-century Spain
- How to weave fact and fiction in historical fiction
“I think write what you know is great advice when you’re starting off. I don’t think it’s a life sentence. It would become very boring if you’re only writing about what you know. I think if you’re going to write about something you don’t know because you haven’t experienced it yourself, you have the duty to research and to inform yourself and to have enough information as if you were there and as if you had seen this and as if this had happened to you.”
Martha Bátiz
This was a fun conversation with Martha, and I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.
A Daughter’s Place is available now, and you can order a copy here.
Got any thoughts on this episode or want to suggest authors you’d like to see on the show? Send me a note here.
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About Martha Bátiz
Featured in Latinos Magazine among the Top Ten Most Successful Mexicans in Canada, and named also one of the Top Ten Most Influential Hispanic-Canadians, Martha Bátiz was born and raised in Mexico City, but has been living in Toronto since 2003. Her articles, chronicles, reviews and short stories have appeared in diverse newspapers, magazines, and in over thirty anthologies not only both Mexico and Canada, but also in Spain, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, Ireland, England, the United States, Australia, and Turkey.
Martha has penned two short-story collections in Spanish: A todos los voy a matar (I’m Going To Kill Them All, Castillo Press, Mexico, 2000), and De tránsito (In Transit, Terranova Editores, Puerto Rico, 2014). Her award-winning novella Boca de lobo was originally published in Spanish both in the Dominican Republic and in Mexico (in 2007 and 2008, respectively), and released in its first English translation as The Wolf’s Mouth (Exile Editions, 2009). In 2018, it appeared in its French version as La Gueule du Loup (Lugar Común Editorial), and in a new English edition under the title Damiana’s Reprieve (Exile Editions). Boca de lobo is also available through Audible as an Audiobook in Spanish since 2021.
Martha is also the author of two short-story collections in English, the first one titled Plaza Requiem: Stories at the Edge of Ordinary Lives (Exile Editions, 2017), winner of the 2018 International Latino Book Award in the category of “Best Popular Fiction: English.” The second and most recent is No Stars in the Sky, published by House of Anansi Press in 2022, which was translated into Turkish in 2023. Martha’s debut novel, A Daughter’s Place, based on the real life of the daughter, sisters, niece, and wife of celebrated Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, will be published by House of Anansi Press in May 2025.
Editor of the anthology Desde el norte: Narrativa canadiense contemporánea (UAM, 2015), Martha is also part of the editorial committee of the successful books Historias de Toronto and Historias de Montreal (Lugar Común, 2016 and 2019, respectively). She holds a PhD in Latin American Literature and is an ATA-certified literary translator. Besides being the founder and instructor of the Creative Writing in Spanish course currently offered by the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto, she is a part-time professor at York University, where she teaches Spanish language and literature, as well as translation and creative writing.
About A Daughter’s Place: Reimagining Miguel de Cervantes
Following her mother’s sudden death, fifteen-year-old Isabel goes to live in the family home of her father, the poet and war hero Miguel de Cervantes, a man she has never met. Forced to pose as a maid to conceal her illegitimate status, Isabel must adapt to a new way of life with her jealous cousin and protective aunts while she waits for her father to return from Seville. Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Esquivias, Miguel’s pious and faithful wife Catalina similarly awaits his return, blissfully unaware of Isabel’s existence.
As Miguel works on the manuscript that will become his masterpiece, Don Quixote, the years pass and Isabel grows into womanhood, falling in and out love, uncovering family secrets, and yearning for the legitimacy denied her by a rigid and callous society. Capturing two tumultuous decades of Golden Age Spain in rich historical detail, Martha Bátiz paints a compassionate portrait of a family on the precipice of great change—and the fiercely independent woman at its centre striving to make a life of her own.
Guest’s links
🛒 Buy A Daughter’s Place: https://houseofanansi.com/products/a-daughters-place?srsltid=AfmBOor7laixfQFYTpr94m3U4fFNniU1142pPnS3aJiX35A_OEsFUAFl
Follow Martha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martha.batiz/
Visit Martha’s website: www.marthabatiz.com
Host’s links
Book a one-on-one with Lola: https://wordcaps.com/coaching/
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