The author Rosario Raro pays tribute to the figure of Emily Hobhouse, one of the pioneers of human rights activism in southern Africa who was insulted as «spinsterly hysteric» in her novel ‘La novia de la paz’ (Planeta), which has been awarded the Azorín Novel Prize 2025.
«I hope it serves as a tribute, as a rescue effort, because this woman, as a figure of pacifism, we can place her on the same level as Gandhi or Mandela. She was able to ignite the world’s conscience, mobilizing millions of people because she wanted to stop the Anglo-Boer war,» Raro explained in an interview with Europa Press.
Hobhouse’s figure, «anti-imperialist, anti-supremacist, anti-colonialist,» was «uncomfortable» for the British Empire, Raro explains, and that is one of the reasons why her figure has been forgotten, in addition to being a woman.
«It was crucial that she was a woman. In the case of Emily Hobhouse, the protagonist of ‘La novia de la paz,’ the bigwigs of the Empire called her spinsterly hysteric. This refers to her feminine condition, her marital status, and also her mental health. All in the same insult. Or they referred to her as ‘barren’ because she had not had children,» Raro explained.
In that sense, the author criticized that the same «outdated» thinking that existed in 1901 could still resonate today. «This idea of establishing degrees in femininity and considering a woman more of a woman because she has been a mother is not just an outdated thought from 1901 when these characters express themselves against her like this, but sometimes remnants of that still exist today,» she added.
A NOVEL «VERY TIMELY IN THIS TIME OF ARMAMENTS RACE»
‘La novia de la paz’ tells the story of this woman who tried to «challenge the established order» and fought for «her freedom» like «many other women» who began to truly live at 35 when they could finally leave their «enclosed» homes.
Specifically, the author pointed out that this novel is «very timely» at a time when the arms race is in the spotlight and where even «survival kits» are being discussed.
«It was very timely in this time of armaments race, where survival kits are being talked about, even enlistments, all these things that produce so much horror. Unfortunately, war is always current, at this moment there are about 60 armed conflicts in the world. I would like it to finally be an anachronism and for us to be the generation that has already experienced the last war,» she explained, reiterating that as long as the world order is based on «greed,» we will not escape that «spiral» of wars.
Raro came across Hobhouse’s story through the epistolary relationship between Gandhi and Lev Tolstoy, in which they discussed many ideas like passive resistance, which originated from the Russian writer, who was «one of the people who had the greatest influence on Gandhi.»
«From there I read a letter Gandhi had written from prison where he thanked a series of women who had helped him greatly in his struggle to have the rights of the Indian community in southern Africa respected. Among those women who helped him, he mentioned Emily Hobhouse, and that was my first discovery and knowledge of her. Then I didn’t understand how such a personality did not have the recognition that I believe she deserves,» the author concluded.