A Heart So White

An introspective novel in which the narrator traces his marriage and his father's past, showing how silence and secrecy shape family ties. Past and present, speech and silence, echo one another until the shape of the truth slowly emerges.

marriagesecrecymemorylanguage and silencefamily

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Work Information

Using a marriage and a father's past as its starting point, the novel slowly brings a buried truth into view.

One of Marías's best-known novels, it uses a precise, elegant voice to build a family story out of conversations, recollections, and what is left unsaid.

Review Summaries

Its quiet prose and psychological depth are widely praised, with many readers noting a lingering aftereffect. Others find the slow-burn structure deliberately demanding.

Book Information

Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1996-02-01
Pages: 278 pages
Language: 英語
Size: 13.97 x 2.54 x 22.23 cm
ISBN-13: 9781860460029
ISBN-10: 186046002X
Price: 2799 JPY
Category: 洋書/Romance/Romantic Suspense

Juan knows little about his widowed father Ranz, a man with a troubled past; if he has been told no lies, that is because he has asked no questions. All he does know is that before marrying Juan's mother Ranz was married to her elder sister and she had committed suicide. The unspoken dialogue between father and son, however, is to become a spelling out of the horrifying truth once Juan has been married for a year to Luisa, and the bride turns discreet confessor to the burdened old man. What gradually emerges into the cold light of day is a repetition of scenes already witnessed by Juan in the course of his travels - of a married man blackmailed by his mistress in a Havana hotel, of a woman in New York pursuing a sequence of shabby lovers through the lonely-hearts columns. With remarkable skill and delicacy Javier Marias builds up his colours to produce a startling picture of two generations, two marriages, and of the secret commerce between spouses that rests on the gossamer-thin threads of an unspoken accord.

Born in 1951 in Madrid, Javier Marias has published twenty books and is a literary phenomenon worldwide. Translated into twenty-eight languages, his books have sold more than three and a half million copies--an amazing quantity for so literary a writer. He has collected a dazzling array of awards, including for A Heart So White the Dublin IMPAC Prize for the best novel published worldwide in English in 1996.

Reviews

A Heart So White : why did she shoot herself ??

At the heart of a Marias novel is some deep , imponderable mystery that slowly takes shape. As well as entertain his writing usually informs. Here its mostly about marriage + what it does to people. how it changes them. And about infidelity + suspicions of infidelity. The pillow talk that passes between lovers. Then there's this Proustian meditation about time and its passage. And the usual homage to Shakespeare - this time its the tragedy of Macbeth. Then there's this fascination with women. Clearly he finds women beguiling , deep + mysterious , bewitching. The mystery at the heart of A Heart So White , as usual , is a woman. Why does newly wed Teresa come home from her honeymoon , go into the bathroom and shoot herself in the heart ?? And years later , when the narrator is on his honeymoon , who is the woman with the strong legs in the short skirt who mistakes him for her lover ?? . And what of the intimate thoughts of the unnamed British politician who just might be Margaret Thatcher ?
Go for it

What a book
Exceptional!

“A Heart So White” by Javier Marías is a haunting, intelligent exploration of secrecy, marriage, and the things left unsaid. With hypnotic prose and psychological depth, Marías pulls readers into the mind of a newlywed translator whose quiet life is unsettled by a series of unsettling discoveries. Elegant and thought-provoking, this novel slowly builds suspense through language and atmosphere rather than action—perfect for readers who enjoy literary fiction that lingers in the mind long after the final page. A masterclass in introspective storytelling so exceptional that I bought a Romanian copy for a dear friend who loved it and devoured whilst o holiday on a beach in Italy!
Five Stars

This book is rich with philosophical and psychological insights.
Too much of a good thing.

Could not get past first page. No respite for the work weary. I thought I would enjoy his style after the first (The Man Of Feeling), but weary very soon of it.