Luisgé Martín, author of the book about José Bretón: “I would not write ‘El odio’ again. Because of the harm it has caused Ruth Ortiz and because of the harm it has caused me”
The author publishes the essay 'From hatred', in which he dissects the gestation process and the controversy of his book in 2025
On March 12 of the previous year, writer Luisgé Martín (64 years old, from Madrid) welcomed EL PAÍS to his home in Madrid to discuss his forthcoming book El odio, about the crime of José Bretón who murdered his two children, Ruth and José, in 2011. The case sparked widespread emotion in Spain and highlighted the issue of vicarious violence. Martín, inspired by works like Emmanuel Carrère's El adversario and Truman Capote's A sangre fría, planned to engage in conversation with the convicted killer.
That very evening, an excerpt of the book was released, media outlets began to dissect it, and it was discovered that Ruth Ortiz, the mother of the victims, had not been consulted nor notified about content that revictimized her children. Ortiz demanded that the publication be stopped due to the illegitimate infringement of the right to honor, privacy, and the image of the deceased minors.
Although a court ruled against halting the sale of the book, the publisher Anagrama, initially supportive, decided to suspend its publication.
The incident sparked a nationwide debate on the ethical boundaries of literature.
Written by urgent.news from El Pais's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
