Safe Return Doubtful

translated from the Spanish by Maria Faye Lethem & published October 2025

I wouldn’t have thought I was the audience for this based on its précis.. a contemporary Spanish novel set in the company offices of a Madrid ad agency promoting beauty products, with much of it referencing social media.. but..
It was great.. Serrano writes with dark wit and a convincing portrayal of the key character.

Protagonist Marisa intensely dislikes her job as a middle manager, cutting every corner possible to spend time on anything that is not work, and plagiarising the reports and presentations she needs to do.

At the outset, she is more switched off out than ever, grieving the recent suicide of the only colleague she felt even remotely close to. In a timeframe of a few weeks between this and the corporate retreat which will drive her to a dramatic action of transgressions during a presentation, the novel beckons the reader to join her in small acts rebellion against capitalism.

It’s a huge amount of fun.

My GoodReads score 4 / 5