The uncloistered one
Original title: El exclaustrado
A dazzling novel about the depths of the human soul, faith, doubts, deceptions and self-deceptions, and unspeakable desires.
At the age of seventy-two, Juan Cabrera lives practically cloistered with his books in a small apartment in the Argüelles neighborhood. This is nothing new for him. For years, he was confined in a Benedictine convent, from which he left with a special exclaustration pardon as a perpetual self-professed monk. In the cloister, he could no longer hear God's voice, but perhaps his departure was also influenced by a report he filed against three novices he caught in what, at least at the time, seemed to him was an inappropriate situation. Far from his family, one day Cabrera receives a visit from his nephew Jaime, who shortly after arranges a meeting between his uncle and Antón Rubial, one of the novices expelled due to the ex-monk's accusation. After leaving the order, Rubial rebuilt his life and married Petri, with whom he has a complicated relationship.
A tangled web of half-truths, manipulations, desires for revenge, and jealousy will be woven between these four characters, with voluntary and involuntary confinement and growing tensions. Álvaro Pombo once again demonstrates his ability to portray the human soul and addresses themes such as faith, doubt, moral conscience, the danger of reviving the past, and a gaze capable of turning a perhaps innocent scene into a sinful one in this dazzling novel.
“He is one of the most extravagant, bold, and lucid talents in contemporary fiction.”
—J. A. Masoliver Ródenas, La Vanguardia
“An exquisite sensitivity when it comes to describing everyday things and moving from there to highbrow philosophy. That is Pombo.” —Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, Babelia
“An exceptional writer.” —Javier Alfaya
A dazzling novel about the depths of the human soul, faith, doubts, deceptions and self-deceptions, and unspeakable desires.
At the age of seventy-two, Juan Cabrera lives practically cloistered with his books in a small apartment in the Argüelles neighborhood. This is nothing new for him. For years, he was confined in a Benedictine convent, from which he left with a special exclaustration pardon as a perpetual self-professed monk. In the cloister, he could no longer hear God's voice, but perhaps his departure was also influenced by a report he filed against three novices he caught in what, at least at the time, seemed to him was an inappropriate situation. Far from his family, one day Cabrera receives a visit from his nephew Jaime, who shortly after arranges a meeting between his uncle and Antón Rubial, one of the novices expelled due to the ex-monk's accusation. After leaving the order, Rubial rebuilt his life and married Petri, with whom he has a complicated relationship.
A tangled web of half-truths, manipulations, desires for revenge, and jealousy will be woven between these four characters, with voluntary and involuntary confinement and growing tensions. Álvaro Pombo once again demonstrates his ability to portray the human soul and addresses themes such as faith, doubt, moral conscience, the danger of reviving the past, and a gaze capable of turning a perhaps innocent scene into a sinful one in this dazzling novel.
“He is one of the most extravagant, bold, and lucid talents in contemporary fiction.”
—J. A. Masoliver Ródenas, La Vanguardia
“An exquisite sensitivity when it comes to describing everyday things and moving from there to highbrow philosophy. That is Pombo.” —Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, Babelia
“An exceptional writer.” —Javier Alfaya
