El niño

Nicasio, now retired, makes a habit of visiting the cemetery in Ortuella every Thursday to see his grandson’s grave. The boy was one of many children who died following a gas explosion at a local school—an accident that shook the Basque Country and all of Spain in 1980. Through the grandfather’s journey—a figure who grows in stature until he becomes truly unforgettable—the mother’s testimony offered many years later, and an objective account of what befell the family, we discover how that searing, devastating tragedy altered them, brought unexpected facets of their characters to light, and upended their lives. With his characteristic mastery, Aramburu immerses the reader in a story of profound, unforeseen emotions—a psychological and literary exploration, conducted with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel, that keeps us riveted to the unfolding fates of the protagonists. It is a novel of such intense emotional density that it demands careful, attentive reading—right down to the final line—if we are to fully grasp, comprehend, and be moved by the destinies of those at the heart of the story.