Books by Margaret Jull Costa (translator)

“It’s the story of a Spanish woman called Berta Isla, who as a student during Franco’s dictatorship in the late 60s, early 70s, meets and falls in love with another student, a man called Tomás Nevinson. He’s half-English, half-Spanish—with a Spanish first name and an English last name. Tomás goes off to Oxford and gets recruited to be a spy. All he wants to do is go back to Madrid, live with Berta and have a good life, but he’s trapped into becoming part of the British secret services and has to live a double life. It’s about a couple living this double life.” Read more...

The Best Novels by Spanish Authors

Richard Village,

“It’s deeply mysterious. One of the things I really love about this book is how Marías holds us at a distance from Victor. He’s the first-person narrator, but you’re left quite uncertain as to his drive and reasons for doing things. You wonder what’s happened, what sort of trouble he’s going to get into, and you’re also wondering why he’s doing this. But Marías does it in a way that doesn’t feel like withholding; it doesn’t feel artificial. You are with this person, but they’re unknown to you.” Read more...

The Best Literary Thrillers

Chris Power, Novelist