Vicente Alfonso: When society wakes up and acts

A beauty queen facing death threats , a governor who prefers to be feared , a journalist in search of his best story , and a widow determined to take justice into her own hands. These four complex characters meet, coexisting, for just 24 hours .

The Night of the Queens (Alfaguara) , the most recent novel by writer and journalist Vicente Alfonso (1977), takes place in Mazatlán (Sinaloa) on a specific day: Monday, July 24, 1978. The port is the venue for an international beauty pageant that will be broadcast to various countries and will have an audience of 900 million people.

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The four characters are very different. An all-powerful governor, who lives up to the hype of a self-made man and applies a heavy hand; and, on one side of him, we have the beauty queen representing South Africa, at a difficult time, when this country is not accepted; the journalist, who tries to write the best story of his life; and Irene, a young woman who lives in a village in the mountains of Sinaloa and is kidnapped by a group of guerrillas,” the author says in an interview.

TITLE: The Night of the Queens AUTHOR: Vicente Alfonso PUBLISHER: Alfaguara, Mexico, 2025; 156 pp.

Characters who deny the existence of the other, because they are different, are forced to acknowledge it,” adds the author, who sheds light on the collapse of narratives on various topics.

At the time, beauty pageants were promoted as multicultural, international celebrations, a celebration of the best of humanity, imposing this happy narrative.

But there was objectification of women. I found that there were many complaints from the participants. They complained about the grueling schedule they were given; that they were forced to socialize with politicians, with businessmen, and dance with them. And this celebration of conviviality and innocence became complex. This idea of a beauty pageant that dignifies women is becoming less and less sustainable," she adds.

The narrator says that it was crucial when the contestants themselves began to speak, because they were voices from within.

Adding to this social awakening is the presence of activists, protesters, farmers, and families searching for their missing children.

"The spiral of time is evident in this novel because it echoes what we're experiencing now. "Discourses of heightened nationalism, racism, and supremacy have returned with unprecedented force," he believes.

“I am interested in the reconstruction of collective memory,” Alfaro concludes.

The novel will be presented on August 8th at the Gandhi Mauricio Achar Bookstore at 7:00 PM . It will also be presented later in Morelia, Tlaxcala, Pachuca, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Monterrey.

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