Eva Luna

Bolero is the name of the telenovela which Eva writes in the latter half of the novel. The script for Bolero incorporates many of the fantastic events and irreverent characters Eva encounters throughout her life into a fictional plotline. This synthesis of reality and fiction is symbolic of an ongoing theme in Eva Luna, Reality and the Power of Storytelling.

Eva populates her first draft of Bolero with the people she has met in her various jobs and living situations. As she writes, she feels the past, present and future come together into one narrative. She is “living countless lives, speaking with many voices” (337). Her characters exit the pages and go gallivanting around the house, frustrating Elvíra. Elvíra’s acknowledgement of these characters as flesh-and-blood presences means that the boundary between the universe of fiction and the real world has been dissolved by Eva’s words.

Eva uses Bolero to manifest her love story with Rolf. As she is in the process of writing out a romantic kiss between her protagonists, Rolf interrupts her to declare his love and kiss her in exactly the manner she just described on paper. Her words seemingly alter the future—a literal representation of the way her talents have helped her achieve a fulfilling life.