Los páramos

The Sau inn, on December 24th, is the unlikely setting for the chance encounter between Ramona and Faust, the protagonists of this novel steeped in fog and desert landscapes, unfolding against the backdrop of drought. She has arrived to spend two nights alone. He is there celebrating a meal with colleagues from a job he is obsessively dedicated to, though he can't bear it: he's the manager of the neighboring dam. Ramona and Faust are so different they almost resemble each other: perhaps that's why they feel a curiosity, not spurred by love or sex, that will propel them into uncharted territory. Who truly lives the life they desire? How can we escape inertia in our relationships with work, partners, our surroundings, family, and ourselves? Why is it so easy to deceive ourselves and yet so difficult to rid ourselves of obsessive thoughts? And, above all, how are illusions invented?