The Playwright's House
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- 8,99 €
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- 8,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
Happily married, backed by a powerful mentor, and with career prospects that would take him abroad, Serguey has more than any young Cuban lawyer could ask for. But when his estranged brother Victor appears with news that their father—famed theater director Felipe Blanco—has been detained for what he suspects are political reasons, Serguey’s privileged life is suddenly shaken.
A return to his childhood home in Havana’s decaying suburbs—a place filled with art, politics, and the remnants of a dissolving family—reconnects Serguey with his troubled past. He learns of an elusive dramaturge’s link to Felipe, a man who could be key to his father’s release. With the help of a social media activist and his wife’s ties with the Catholic Church, Serguey sets out to unlock the mystery of Felipe’s arrest and, in the process, is forced to confront the reasons for the hostility between him and Victor: two violent childhood episodes that scarred them in unforgettable ways. On the verge of imprisonment, Serguey realizes he must make a decision regarding not just his father, but his family and his own future, a decision which, under the harsh shadow of a communist state, he cannot afford to regret.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Serguey Blanco, the 27-year-old protagonist of this worthy first novel from Suarez (after the story collection A Kind of Solitude), has everything he could want in contemporary Havana, Cuba. He's a lawyer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is on the fast track for snagging a posting abroad. His mentor is a powerful person in government, and his father, Felipe, is a celebrated playwright and theater director. However, when Felipe is arrested for vague political crimes, Serguey realizes how fragile his perfect life has always been. His family begs him to call in favors to free Felipe, and by doing so Serguey's life turns into a Kafkaesque nightmare. He faces formidable forces: "There would be no case anyone could make against a politically motivated accusation, not without losing their job. There would be no other entities that could intervene, no individual that could defy the government's ubiquitous will." His efforts to navigate an increasingly sinister landscape, untangle the complex details of his father's life, and come to terms with his own past make for gripping reading. Fans of realistic political thrillers won't want to miss this one.
