In 2009, the final volume of Javier Marías’ trilogy Your Face Tomorrow was extremely well received by Dutch literary critics, as it was almost everywhere else in the world. Marías’ books are sold in over forty countries and more and more often he is mentioned as a candidate for The Nobel Prize in Literature. Following the publication of the Dutch translation of his new novel, Los enamoramientos [Fallings in Love], Javier Marías will visit BorderKitchen on June 6th. 

In Los enamoramientos, Maria Dolz, the main character and narrator, is obsessed by a couple that she sees in a café  each morning. The couple appears to be very happy, but then suddenly Miguel, the man, gets stabbed to death on the street. His wife Luisa stays away from the café quite some time, but when she returns, the two women become friends. Maria then meets Luisa’s and Miguel’s friend, Javier. She falls deeply in love with him, but also starts to wonder if he played a part in Miguel’s death.  

Javier Marías (Madrid, 1951) is the author of several contemporary classics, such as Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me and A Heart So White. He studied English Literature and has translated into Spanish works by, among others, Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Laurence Sterne and Seamus Heaney. He also contributes a weekly column to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

During BorderKitchen, Javier Marías will be interviewed in English. His interviewer will be Maarten Steenmeijer, Professor of Spanish Literature and Culture (Radbout University, Nijmegen), translator and literary critic for de Volkskrant.

Location: Gemeentemuseum (auditorium), Stadhouderslaan 41, The Hague
Start: 20.00 hrs
Tickets are € 7,50 and can be reserved by calling 070-3462355 (Mon-Fri) or sending an e-mail to info@borderkitchen.nl.

‘And with this triumphant finale - the longest and best of all three -
 it becomes impossible to resist the thought that this deeply strange creation,
 with its utterly sui generis methods, its brilliant disquisitions on love and
 loss, its dark playfulness, may very well be the first authentic
 literary masterpiece of the 21st century. – The Guardian (on: Your Face 
 Tomorrow III: Poison, Shadow and Farewell)