Book description
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the award-winning author of The Infatuations comes the mesmerizing story of a couple living in the shadow of a mysterious, unhappy history—a novel about the cruel, tender punishments we exact on those we love.
“A literary mystery ...calls to mind Paul Auster, Donna Tartt, and Carlos…
Why read it?
1 author picked Thus Bad Begins as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
The story narrated by Marías presents itself as incredibly complex and original. It turns around Jean de Vere, the young assistant of an old and famous Spanish director, Eduardo Muriel, who has a beautiful wife, Beatriz, who is heartbroken because of her husband's mistreatment and cruelty. Living in the couple's house, Juan will find himself involved in a series of scandalous secrets dating back to the years of the Franco dictatorship, when many of the filmmaker's entourage collaborated with the regime, carrying out abhorrent acts. The action takes place in 1980 at a time of appeasement in Spain, when no…
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