A Manuscript of Ashes
PRAISE FORSEPHARAD "Shame and guilt, homelands and exile, ceaseless wanderings and bitter alienations both internal and external, metaphorical and real, are persistent motifs of Muñoz Molina’s remarkable novel—one that turns out to be about a territory far vaster than 'Sepharad' itself: Europe, perhaps even the world . . . [A] masterpiece."—Daniel Mendelsohn,The New York Reviewof Books"A magnificent novel about the iniquity and horror of fanaticism, and especially the human being's indestructible spirit."—Mario Vargas Llosa"This is a brilliant novel by an important writer unafraid of ideas, emotions and genuine beauty. ''A Manuscript of Ashes'' could be pleasurably read out of appreciation for any one of those qualities-- or, perhaps, for the intricately plotted mystery that bears the novel''s characters along like travelers on a dark, treacherous river." (Tim RuttenLos Angeles Times2008-09-02)"[R]apturously Gothic...The book is written in incantatory run-on sentences, intoxicated with sensual details...The past, Mr. Munoz Molina implies, is never as dead as we think, and the stories it tells us are never free of hidden agendas." (Adam KirschNew York Sun2008-08-01)"In 2003, the acclaimed Spanish writer and journalist Antonio Munoz Molina took the English-speaking world by storm with the translation of his work ''Sepharad.'' Now Anglophone readers will get to revel anew in Munoz Molina''s sensual prose and fluid plotlines with the translation of his first novel." (Newsweek2008-09-15)"Antonio Munoz Molina''s latest beautifully wrought novel, ''A Manuscript of Ashes'', is set in Franco-era Spain and tells the story of a young university student, Minaya, who retreats to his uncle Manuel''s mansion in the countryside to write a thesis on a neglected poet the old man once knew. As the plot progresses, Minaya uncovers a startling truth about the relationship between the men, and the story darkens into a meta-mystery. Molina writes in big, fat paragraphs and the kind of lush sentences that can bear the scrutiny usually reserved for poems." (New York Magazine2008-08-20)"[A]compulsively re-readable novel (which has been splendidly translated by Edith Grossman)...The insistence on the primacy of the invisible reckoning, as opposed to the outwardly visible action, gives...this novel an unsinkable power." (Christopher ByrdBarnes & Noble.com2008-09-15)"Intense, kaleidoscopic....the narrative speeds along on the strength of the spell it weaves." (www.mostlyfiction.com2008-08-18)"[I]ts enigmatic melancholy offers rewards." (Christian Science Monitor2008-09-05)"Already a contemporary classic, this work...is an enigmatic gem in the very best metafiction tradition." (Library Journal2008-04-01)