Hell Has No Limits

Hell Has No Limits (El lugar sin límites, "The Place Without Limits") is a 1966 novel written by Chilean José Donoso. The novel is set south of the Chilean capital, Santiago, in a small town near the regional center of Talca. It tells the story of a bordello, and details the prostitutes' way of life. The main character is Manuela, the transgender woman who owns the bordello. A number of other memorable characters are introduced. The novel was well received, and Donoso himself considered it his best work: "the most perfect, with fewest errors, the most complete".

Title
The title Hell Has No Limits refers to a line in Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus, where the character Mephistophilis says:


 * Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd
 * In one self place; for where we are is hell,
 * And where hell is, there must we ever be.
 * —Doctor Faustus, Act II, scene i, line 118

Film adaptation
In 1978, the book was made into a film of the same name.

Editions available

 * Carlos Fuentes / José Donoso / Severo Sarduy (1972). Triple Cross: Holy Place / Hell Has No Limits / From Cuba with a Song, Dutton.
 * . Trans. Suzanne Jill Devine.
 * . Trans. Suzanne Jill Devine.