Sur

A dazzling, Joycean achievement by one of Spain's greatest living novelists.

On a sweltering hot August day in Málaga, dawn breaks over a patch of waste ground and a man lying close to death. From this vivid encounter, a kaleidoscopic narrative unfolds over a single day, as the suffocating terral wind spreads its malign influence over the city. We meet the dying man's family, his doctor wife and entitled son; a picture framer and his alcoholic brother; their mother and her entrepreneur boyfriend; the framer's colleague and his wife who has given all their savings to the local priest; drug dealers and addicts, itinerant musicians and petrol station workers – their lives all interwoven in a richly layered tapestry of contemporary Spain.

A monumental achievement by one of Spain's greatest living writers, Sur explores asks powerful questions about the hope and futility of daily life and the manifestation of our desire, exploring the countless stories we intersect with every day.



ANTONIO SOLER (Málaga, 1956) has published thirteen novels, many of them prize-winning. His third novel, Las bailarinas muertas (The Dead Dancing Girls), won the Premio Herralde, establishing his reputation as key exponent of modern Spanish narrative. El nombre que ahora digo (The Name I Now Speak) is considered by some as one of the best depictions of life in the Republican sector during the Spanish civil war. Another of his novels, El camino de los Ingleses (Summer Rain), was made into a film in 2006 by Antonio Banderas. Sur is the first of his novels to be translated into English.