Author: Quintana, Pilar.
Publisher: Alfaguara
Pages:544
“I had never seen a night as dark and quiet, with the jungle, the islands, and the ocean nearly blended with the sky. The world seemed terrifying, as if taken by occult forces.” Rosa and Gene, her Irish partner, decide to leave their comfortable life in the city to go build a house by themselves, in the jungle, by the sea. When Gene has to leave for a few days, Rosa is left alone in a setting that is still indecipherable. During this time, as the moon is waning and the evenings get darker, Rosa faces the threat of this ungovernable nature surrounding her, as well as from others, the neighbors who know she is by herself. Rosa is also constantly haunted by her past, and loneliness becomes deeper and more definitive. In this portentous novel that leaves one gasping for air, Pilar Quintana’s resounding prose causes admiration and disquiet in equal measure. “A new Heart of Darkness, a novel that will become a literary milestone. Hypnotic, overwhelming, dangerous, moving. This dreadful jungle will remain imprinted in my memory.” —Rosa Montero