Neznámý v zahradě – Carrasco Jesús (2016)

The new book by Spanish writer Jesús Carrasco takes us into the realm of fictional history – an unspecified period in the first half of the 20th century. The reader finds themselves in a picturesque garden of a country estate in Extremadura, where a retired high-ranking officer of the Empire, which has recently occupied Spain and a significant part of the world, spends his years in retirement. The wife of the once cruel and ruthless Iosif, Eva Holman, gradually awakens from the idyll of her own superiority after a mysterious and seemingly deranged man named Leva appears in her garden. Mrs. Holman, torn from her peace and comfort, does not drive the intruder away, does not shoot him, nor does she report him to the authorities, even though such a straightforward solution would be logical; instead, she begins to observe and reconstruct the troubled fate of the unknown man. The story begins to intertwine multiple parallel planes, in which Leva's is a terrifying image of the enslaved 20th century, of labor and extermination camps, and of unrestrained plundering of resources, both human and natural. The theme, language, and circumstances of uncovering Leva's story and Eva's disillusionment with her own life ultimately prove to be much more important than the plot, just as in the author's successful debut, On the Run. In both cases, the reader encounters...