The Child

by Fernando Aramburu

Nicasio, now retired, usually goes up to the Ortuella cemetery on Thursdays to visit his grandson's grave. He is one of the many children who died after a gas explosion in a school in that town, an accident that shook the Basque Country and all of Spain in 1980. Through the adventures of the grandfather, a figure that grows until it becomes unforgettable, through the testimony of the mother many years later, through the objective chronicle of what happened to the family, we will discover how that lacerating and devastating tragedy altered them, how it brought out unexpected aspects, how it disrupted their lives. With Aramburu's usual mastery, the reader will be immersed in a story of unexpected emotions, a psychological and literary exploration with a sharp scalpel that keeps us glued to the unfolding destinies of the protagonists. A novel that harbors such a high emotional density that it demands attentive reading, to the last line, to understand, comprehend, and be moved by the fate of its protagonists. The new installment of the extraordinary fresco of Gentes Vascas, El nio is a heartbreaking, unforgettable story, a literary marvel of the best Aramburu.