First published 1998
Marta collapses and dies unexpectedly, leaving behind a husband who suspects she was not alone that night. Her widower becomes obsessed with identifying the man who shared her final hours. His investigation pulls him deeper into the hidden layers of their marriage and the deceptions that flourished beneath its surface. As he searches for answers, he uncovers the small betrayals and elaborate self-deceptions that couples use to survive together. The pursuit forces him to confront not only what his wife concealed from him, but what he refused to see about himself. Marías constructs a psychological excavation where each revelation about Marta's secret life exposes another fault line in their relationship. The widower's quest becomes less about finding her lover and more about understanding how two people can live intimately while remaining strangers to each other.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: deception, unreliable-narrator
Period: 20th-century
311 pages · Paperback · Vintage Press