Los nombres de mi padre

Camilo has arrived in New York in search of answers: Who was Miguel Carnero? Could he be his biological father? His mother is dying in Mexico; the father he actually knew died years ago of a massive heart attack. Now that the truth is beginning to surface, doubts mount and time is running out. Ángela Carnero—Miguel’s daughter—is the only person who can help him, yet he no longer has any contact with her. His is an intimate, existential, almost detective-like investigation that intertwines family histories with political wounds. Through old archives, conflicting accounts, and his own hazy memories, Camilo maps out an emotional landscape that forces him to reconsider everything: his childhood, his relationships with loved ones, and, ultimately, his own identity. His inquiries lead him back to the 1970s and to parents who played at changing the world. At the center of it all stands Miguel Carnero—a distant yet magnetic figure who captivated everyone drawn to him. An orphan, idealist, visionary, and obsessive man, Miguel sensed that the blueprints of modern cities—with their broad thoroughfares and relentless towers—held no promise of progress. Camilo discovers a chilling connection between urban design and repression, between modern architecture and state-sponsored crimes. Utopias of social harmony transform into oppressive labyrinths, and the very layout of the avenues seems to harbor the seeds of disaster. Can we truly understand those who came before us? How much of them lives on within us? Delving into one’s origins is not merely an exercise in nostalgia; it is a radical act of survival. Daniel Saldaña París, one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Mexican literature, once again surprises us with a profound, deeply human novel about a search that is at once desperate and luminous. *Los nombres de mi padre* leaves us with the certainty that, just as in architecture, rebuilding what has been lost does not mean turning back, but rather taking a firm step forward.