"Adey and Coombe’s translation of this intricate, fiercely intelligent novel is nothing short of heroic. Moreno’s sprawling yet meticulous prose style is rendered into tightly-controlled and beautiful English. This duo’s translation of En diciembre llegaban las brisas, first published in 1987, reminds us that there are still unmissable writers in the Spanish language yet to be translated into English. Moreno’s indisputable talent demands a recasting of the Latin American Boom to include her."
- QSSI Translation prize jury

“Excellently translated, Moreno’s dense and meandering prose depicts a litany of suffering layered upon suffering.” - Georgina I

“Isabel Adey’s and Charlotte Coombe’s impeccable translation captures the novel’s unique tone and the writing style of the original Spanish edition.” - Esperanza hope snyder

“In Charlotte Coombe’s translation, each acidic assertion of American life is captured with terse precision.” - Andrés N Ordorica

“Charlotte Coombe’s translation is sharp, daring, and delightful. […]In Coombe’s words, these characters sound just as jagged, brittle, and lost as Robayo wrote them” - Dorothy potter snyder

“Coombe’s connection with García Robayo’s narrative voice continues in Holiday Heart: she explores a wide range of slang both contemporary and (for purposes of characterisation) out-dated, and maintains the delicate balance of García Robayo’s prose, which switches seamlessly from the understated to the exuberant, the base to the profound." - Helen Vassallo

“(…) considered, poetic, and sharp translation work by Charlotte Coombe” - Books & Bao

“What a treat, Robayo’s prose is cutting, sardonic, precise and witty, brilliantly translated by Coombe.” - Jessenana

“This sparky, lively translation brilliantly captures the laconic tone of Margarita García Robayo’s stories.”

‘Like a Pariah’ always stays with me, thanks to its final line, rendered Carver-esque by Coombe’s excellent translation: “I’m perfectly alright.” - Sam reese

“The tackiness of the caribbean coast and its discontents are marvellously rendered by the translator, Charlotte coombe, who also achieves the holy grail: a natural sounding slang". -lorna scott fox, Times literary supplement

“(…)the translation is pitch-perfect, and Coombe has an incredible ear for García Robayo’s characters. [She] has embraced the outrageously crude tone of García Robayo’s writing and communicated it in all its visceral glory,” Helen Vassallo

“In Coombe’s hands, García Robayo’s prose is concise and startling, her voice versatile and capable of packing a serious punch.” - ELLEN JONES, LARB

“[…]Charlotte Coombe’s translation manages at once to convey the beauty of the imagery as well as the contemporary significance—on both a local and global scale—of the social justice issues. The result is one of the most essential books of the year” - SARAH BOOKER, ASYMPTOTE