First published 2000
Juan Ramos is a professional translator on his honeymoon in Havana with his new wife. From their hotel balcony, he spots a woman waiting in the street below. Without meaning to, he becomes an unwilling listener to a conversation that fills him with unease. This moment of accidental eavesdropping plants a seed of discomfort that will shadow his entire married life. The unease may stem from something deeper in his past, though its origins remain unclear. Juan finds himself caught between the urge to speak and the need to stay silent, wrestling with secrets and their potential dangers. His white heart, once pure, slowly takes on darker shades as he becomes someone he never wanted to be. The novel explores how marriage can harbor hidden threats, how murder lurks in unexpected places, and how doubt can poison even the most innocent beginnings.
Genres: literary-fiction, suspense, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Havana, Cuba
Period: 21st-century
288 pages · Hardcover · New Directions