Dua Lipa Details Service95 Book Club's May Monthly Read: 'Still Born' by Guadalupe Nettel

Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club has shared details about May’s Monthly Read: Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel. The Service95 Book Club will provide exclusive content from Dua and Guadalupe throughout the month on service95.com and across socials.

On Still Born, Dua says, “Laura and Alina are friends in their early 30s living in Mexico City. Both are determinedly childfree, believing that motherhood is a trap of the patriarchy. Then, Alina changes her mind. You might think this is where their lives diverge, but the turning point in this book is a surprise for everyone.”

Dua explains, “As Alina’s life is upended with a devastating medical diagnosis for her unborn daughter, Alina and Laura’s friendship becomes more vital than ever. Baby Inés doesn’t die as her parents feared – she is still born, despite her prognosis. However, this story doesn’t shy away from the complex realities of raising a child with profound disabilities – instead, it focuses on the transcendent power of love, as the parents get to know their daughter. The experience is transformative for all the caregivers in Inés’ life.”

Dua adds, “Care, in its many forms, is beautifully explored in this book – whether it’s Laura stepping in without fuss to care for the traumatised child living next door, or the pigeons on the balcony tenderly raising a cuckoo in their nest. And as you’ll learn, no one gets anything past a pigeon!”

“This book is both uplifting and gut-wrenching, often at the same time. If you are dealing with any of the issues tackled in the book, please explore this story at your own pace. At its heart, it is a story about the many different ways to be a family, and it made me reflect on what an honour it is to care for someone you truly love,” Dua concludes.

In their interview together, Dua and Guadalupe discuss the complexities and themes within the book, including fertility struggles, the possibility of losing a child, and grief. 

In addition to the author Q&A, Service95 Book Club readers can explore Guadalupe’s reading list and playlist curated for the book club, as well as an essay Guadalupe wrote on the emotional challenges of writing someone else’s truth.

Dua’s Service95 Book Club is the latest offering from her Service95 platform, which consists of the At Your Service podcast and the flagship Service95 newsletter. Service95 has been praised by The Guardian as "some of the most thought-provoking short-form cultural writing you can find,” and the podcast has been lauded by The Sunday Times, Vogue and Vulture. In addition, Spotify named it one of the Best Podcasts of 2022, and praised Dua as “an incredibly thoughtful interviewer with a genuine interest in people, social movements, and the arts.” 

About Guadalupe Nettel

Guadalupe Nettel is a Mexican author of award-winning novels and short story collections. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and adapted for theatre and film. Still Born, her most recent novel, was shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize. In 2008 she received a PhD in Literature from the EHESS in Paris. She has edited cultural and literary magazines such as Número Cero and Revista de la Universidad de México. She lives in Paris as a writer in residence at the Columbia University Institute for Ideas and Imagination.

About Dua Lipa

3x GRAMMY and 7x BRIT Award-winning global pop powerhouse Dua Lipa continues to be one of pop music’s leading forces with the release of her third album, Radical Optimism. The album went No. 1 in 12 countries, including the UK where it became the biggest album debut from a UK female artist in 2024 and garnered the highest week one sales from a UK female artist since 2021.