The novel begins: “After spending nearly twenty years in the Monastery of Saint Dominic of Silos, the Benedictine monk Juan Constantino became a heretic.”

After deep reflection he had reached the conclusion, inspired by Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans, that man could be on good terms with God without the necessity of following any ecclesiastic precepts. He waited for God to open the doors of the world to him, and when he saw his chance, he abandoned the monastery and all Churches. He secularized himself on the spur of the moment, as he liked to say, but kept his faith and his Christian ethics intact.

In the outside world, he was forced to confront its corruption; in his private life, he came up against “the luxury of sexuality.” Nevertheless, he reached the summits of real love and real friendship, both processes carefully narrated by the author.

The novel ends with a surprising turn.

Author’s note:

Apart from a series of secondary characters, the novel revolves around Juan Constantino, his beloved Magda, and his friend Victor Alba. This third character is inspired by Carlos Bousoño, my close friend for many years and who dedicated the whole of his poetic work to me. Juan and Victor’s conversations are a faithful representation of those of the author and his friend Carlos.