A riveting novel of infidelity and a man trapped by a terrible secret, from "the most subtle and gifted writer in contemporary Spanish literature" (The Boston Sunday Globe)--and the award-winning, international bestselling author of The Infatuations.

"One of the writers who should get the Nobel Prize is Javier Marías." --Orhan Pamuk

Marta has only just met Victor when she invites him to dinner at her Madrid apartment while her husband is away on business. When her two-year-old son finally falls asleep, Marta and Victor retreat to the bedroom. Undressing, she feels suddenly ill; and in his arms, inexplicably, she dies. What should Victor do? Remove the compromising tape from the answering machine? Leave food for the child for breakfast? These are just his first steps, but he soon takes matters further; unable to bear the shadows and the unknowing, Victor plunges into dark waters. And Javier Marías, Europe's master of secrets, of what lies reveal and truth may conceal, is on sure ground in this profound, quirky, and marvelous novel.

Author: Javier Marías
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 03/26/2013
Series: Vintage International
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.52lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.07w x 0.69d
ISBN: 9780307950758

About the Author
JAVIER MARÍAS was born in Madrid in 1951. He has published fifteen novels, including The Infatuations and A Heart So White, as well as three collections of short stories and several volumes of essays. His work has been translated into forty-four languages, has sold more than eight and a half million copies worldwide, and has won a dazzling array of international literary awards, including the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Prix Femina Étranger. He died in 2022.

Translated by Margaret Jull Costa