I received an advanced review copy of this book from Atria through NetGalley. This is an English translation of the original Spanish novel.
My Review:
Blanca Perea has just found out that her husband of 20 years has not only left her for a woman 15 years his junior, but he is also having a baby with this other woman. In order to escape the inexplicable pain she is experiencing, Blanca leaves Madrid and accepts an appointment as a visiting professor at a small university in California. She is essentially running away from and avoiding her problems.
Blanca’s main task as a visiting professor is to sort out the papers and documents of Andres Fontana, a deceased professor of Spanish Literature. What begins, for her, as a bland secretarial position, turns into a excavation and investigation into the fascinating life of this professor. But I would argue that the central figure in the book is not Blanca, or even Professor Fontana, but it is Daniel Carter, the professor’s student. Daniel takes one of Professor Fontana’s classes at the University of Pittsburgh and gains an appreciation for the Spanish language and culture that changes his life forever.
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