INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - From the internationally acclaimed
author of The Infatuations comes the mesmerizing story of a couple
living in the shadow of a mysterious, unhappy history--a novel about the
cruel, tender punishments we exact on those we love.
Madrid, 1980. Juan de Vere, nearly finished with his university degree,
takes a job as personal assistant to Eduardo Muriel, an eccentric,
once-successful film director. Urbane, discreet, irreproachable, Muriel
is an irresistible idol to the young man. But Muriel's voluptuous wife,
Beatriz, inhabits their home like an unwanted ghost; and on the
periphery of their lives is Dr. Jorge Van Vechten, a family friend
implicated in unsavory rumors that Muriel now asks Juan to investigate.
As Juan draws closer to the truth, he uncovers only more questions. What
is at the root of Muriel's hostility toward his wife? How did Beatriz
meet Van Vechten? What happened during the war? Marías leads us deep
into the intrigues of these characters, through a daring exploration of
rancor, suspicion, loyalty, trust, and the infinitely permeable
boundaries between the deceptions perpetrated on us by others and those
we inflict upon ourselves.
