Book published by Newmag. The cover is hard, 624 pages. Fernando Aramburu's internationally acclaimed novel evokes an unresolved history of violence, giving a fictional account of lives shattered by Basque terrorism even as it rekindles debate about truth and reconciliation. Lifetime friends become bitter enemies when the father of one family is killed by militants—one of whom is a son from the other family. Told in short sections highlighting a rich multiplicity of characters from all walks of life, Homeland brilliantly unfolds in nonlinear fashion as it traces the moral dilemmas faced by the families of murder victim and perpetrator alike. Aramburu alludes only obliquely to the historical context while he focuses on the psychological complexity of his characters and builds nearly unbearable suspense.
Born in San Sebastián, Spain, in 1959, FERNANDO ARAMBURU is considered one of the most remarkable writers in the Spanish language. He won the Ramón Gómez de la Serna Prize in 1997, the Euskadi Prize in 2001, and, for his short story collection Los peces de la amargura, the Mario Vargas Llosa NH Short Story Award, the Dulce Chacón Prize, and the Prize of the Spanish Roal Academy in 2008. Among his most recent novels, Años lentos won the Premio Tusquets de Novela in 2011 and was named Book of the Year in 2012 by the booksellers of Madrid. But it is his novel Patria (Homeland), a stunning success among readers and winner of unanimous acclaim (National Prize for Literature, National Critics Prize, Euskadi Prize, Francisco Umbral Prize, Strega European Prize, Tomasi di Lampedusa Prize, among many others) that has distinguished him as a writer who will leave his mark on our era.