None so blind

González Sainz, J. A.

"The worst thing might not be so much what's happening now, no matter how dreadful that may be—Felipe Díaz Carrión said to himself, thinking not just about end-of-summer storms—but the fact that the particulates and dust are shaken free and get into your eyes and blind you, and then anything can happen, anything."
When the old printshop that Felipe Díaz Carrión has been working at for years in his hometown goes bust, he heads north with his nine-year-old son and his wife Asun, in search of a new job. On their arrival in the industrial center of the Spanish Basque Country, he finds work in construction and later in a chemical factory. They have a second child and purchase an apartment, but despite their settling in, the passing of time brings an unfortunate twist of fate for Felipe. Regarded as foreigners in a region affected by nationalism and political violence, his quest to make a living will in fact bring about his doom. Captivated by the power of radicalism, his wife and son become estranged both from him and their own core values, leading to an unthinkable, dramatic end. A beautiful novel on identity and the meaning of words.