What María de la Paz Janer was like, according to her friend: "She's seductive and flirtatious, it comes out without her meaning to."

PalmReal life can be very much like a movie. Sometimes, it even seems like time goes in slow motion. One of these cinematic moments is when two people start running from two different points to meet and hug. This was the bread and butter of every summer when vacations arrived in times before cell phones and summer friends could go months—the entire school year—without knowing anything about each other. This was the childhood and adolescence of María de la Paz Janer (Palma, 1966), who arrived in Llubí every August, dazzling everyone. Her friend, Maria Llompart, tells us this, as she recalls how they would run to hug each other. "You'll be friends," her aunt, who lived across the street from María de la Paz's godmother's house, told them. She wasn't wrong.

"The Janer Mulet family moved to Llubí in August. From the beginning, it seemed to me that María was different from my friends in the village. We played a lot with her brothers (there are 4 of them): they had a swing, a small plastic pool. We spent hours playing with the Nancys, inventing worlds, and when we were a little older, we wrote plays, especially for Sant Bartomeu, when her brother had a party. We performed them in the courtyard," recalls Maria Llompart. In fact, she emphasizes that the writer is a very family-oriented person: "The relationship she has always had with her parents, her wife Alicia and Don Gabriel, is admirable. Also with all her siblings. She adores her family, she loves them madly," she notes.

Over the years, the personalities of the two friends developed. And something that has remained over time is María de la Paz's open nature: "You could talk to her about anything, even the most personal details," she comments. "She really values what people do for her," says the sea bass, almost in gratitude. And it wasn't just her physical appearance: when she spoke, she made herself heard because she is intelligent, cultured, and very lively. "She has always been special," says the friend, emphasizing María de la Paz Janer's natural traits. "She's very seductive and flirtatious, she arouses passions, both good and bad, but she never leaves anyone indifferent. And seduction isn't something she always seeks; it just comes to her. She dresses up even for just being at home. I think she inherited that from her godmother, who was also quite vain," recalls Maria Llompart.

An image of María de la Paz that was repeated every summer: "I remember her writing, reading, and sharing literature. We would go to the attic of her Aunt Carme's house, who would give us notebooks full of love poems, and we would recite them as if they were treasures."

The two Marías who lovingly call each other Pacitas and Mary Poppins, have shared time, conversations, and fears. The result of this is that they know each other deeply: "Now, when I read her books, I see her memories, her ghosts, and her worries. I read them and think of a phrase her father, Gabriel Janer Manila, used to say: 'Cultural literature is a big lie that hides a profound truth.'" For the sea bass, it's magical to find Pacitas's truth between the lines of her novels.