Translation Rights TQE / Absolution

After an erratic and dissatisfied life, Lino has finally come to know happiness. A bright future lies ahead of him on this Thursday in the month of May. On Sunday, he will marry Clara, and today, as a preview to that fortunate day, they are celebrating a family get-together. Everything tends towards harmony and bliss. On this morning, Lino reviews his past from the time of his adolescence, when he discovered that the world is a hostile place, until some months ago, when he started working at the hotel where he met Clara and a new period began which would bring him to this miraculous day. He walks around Madrid, relaxed and idle, although once in a while he is struck by a bad feeling. Suddenly, he becomes involved in a vulgar street fight after which the happy day becomes a nightmare that will send him on a road adventure and towards the misfortune of guilt.

Absolución is a delicate love story, a countdown without a break, an inspired story of learning and wisdom where the main character comes to know a cast of unforgettable actors.

Luis Landero was born in Alburquerque (Badajoz, Spain) in 1948. He has a degree in Spanish Language and Literature from the Complutense University. He has worked as a literature teacher in the School of Dramatic Arts in Madrid and has been a visiting professor of Yale University. His successful literary debut took place in 1989 with the novel Juegos de la edad tardía (Games of the Late Age, Critics Prize and National Narrative Prize in 1990), and it was followed by Caballeros de fortuna (The Fortunate Knights, 1994), El mágico aprendiz (The Magician’s Apprentice, 1998), El guitarrista (The Guitarist, 2002), and Hoy, Júpiter (Today, Jupiter, 2007). This novel won the XIV Arcebispo Juan de San Clemente Prize. Landero, who has been translated into several languages, is one of the most important Spanish narrators of the last decades and one of the brightest literary essayists. He is the author of Entre líneas: el cuento o la vida (Between the Lines: Story vs. Life, 2000), where he uses the short story to meditate on the art of fiction, and of ¿Cómo le corto el pelo, caballero? (How Shall I Cut Your Hair, Sir?, 2004), a compilation of his best articles.