Jaume Cabré

The new novel from the acclaimed author of Jo confesso. A stunning story with high-voltage literary surprises.

Ismael is a mature teacher who has found in literature a way to get over his early orphanhood and turbulent youth in a young offenders’ institution. His uneventful, humdrum life is turned upside down when he happens upon an old childhood friend, Leo, in a haberdasher’s, giving rise to an irresistible attraction. With the unexpected possibility of happiness in reach, one day, out of the blue, Ismael falls victim to the treachery of an acquaintance who offers him a lift. The next thing Ismael remembers is the moment when he wakes up in a hospital bed not knowing who he is or how he got there. He can only recall the books that have marked his life. 

Consumits pel foc masterfully combines ingredients from the best classic noir: impossible loves, innocents who get into trouble with the law, mysterious women struck by misfortune; and they are all swept along by a tragic destiny that pursues them relentlessly.

 “This is Jaume Cabré’s most contemporary novel. [...] Written with an enormous creative freedom based on transferences and associations, here the plot takes a back burner to the vivid depiction of the fragility of human consciousness, its visceral, animal side.” Julià Guillamón, La Vanguardia

“The book vibrates with a biblical thunder, as if the characters were at the mercy of forces beyond their control.” B. Puigtobella, Núvol