Javier Marías Boeken

Tijdens een diner op de universiteit van Oxford wekt de jonge, aantrekkelijke docente Clare Bayes de belangstelling van veel tafelgenoten. In het bijzonder die van de nieuwe hoogleraar Spaans. Ze beginnen een onstuimige affaire, heimelijk afsprekend in hotelkamers, buiten het zicht van Clares echtgenoot. In een verhaal vol lust, eenzaamheid, ijdelheid en vervlogen herinneringen wordt de hoogleraar steeds verder ingewijd in de zonderlinge oxfordiaanse samenleving, 'een van de plekken op de wereld waar het minst wordt gewerkt'. Aller zielen is een meesterlijke verstelling vol vlijmscherpe observaties, komische beschrijvingen én ontroerende passages over vriendschap en liefde.

Maria Dolz, hoofdpersoon en verteller, is gefascineerd door een echtpaar dat ze elke ochtend tegenkomt in het café waar ze ontbijt. De twee stralen geluk uit en ze geven haar een goed gevoel. Maar dan wordt Miguel, de man, ineens op straat doodgestoken en komt zijn vrouw, Luisa, lange tijd niet naar het café. Als ze er na een paar maanden toch weer is raken de twee vrouwen bevriend, en Maria leert ook huisvriend Javier kennen, op wie ze stapelverliefd wordt. Als ze Javier op een avond met iemand hoort praten begint ze zich af te vragen of hij te vertrouwen is. De hevige verliefdheid maakt plaats voor angst en ze vermoedt zelfs dat hij een rol speelde in de dood van zijn vriend Miguel. De verliefden is een roman over de onmogelijkheid om de waarheid volledig te ontdekken, omdat die zo soepel met onze gedachten en emoties mee verandert.

The concluding part to Marias's masterwork: 'This trilogy must be one of the greatest novels of our age (Antony Beevor)

Jacques Deza has been recruited into an undercover spy network by the inscrutable Bertram Tupra. But when he is forced to witness an act of horrifying brutality in a night-club, he finds himself falling apart, haunted by his own memories of the bloodshed of the Spanish Civil War

Marias casts a knowing eye on the secrets that bring couples together and break them apart - the admissions that conceal, the lies that reveal - and the infinite capacity for self-deception in pursuit of love.

BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 ACCORDING TO GUARDIAN AND THE SPECTATOR The final novel from one of the greatest writers of the past half century'No-one nowadays writes prose like Javier Marias . . . If you're already a fan, you'll know what to expect and rejoice. If you're not, what a treat you have in store' The HeraldTomas Nevinson, a retired MI6 agent, is working for the British Embassy in Madrid when his former handler, the sinister Bertram Tupra, offers to bring him back inside for one last assignment. His mission: to catch and, if necessary, kill a terrorist gone to ground in Northern Spain after bombings in Barcelona and Zaragoza. The trouble is there are three suspects - all women - and it may not actually be any of them. To find out, Nevinson must move incognito to the small town where the three women separately live, and become an intimate friend to each, in the hope of uncovering a clue . . .A philosophical thriller with a climate of suspense to rival le Carre and a psychological depth that is purely Marias's own, this is a novel that explores the deepest of human questions: in what circumstances can killing be called just?Translated by Margaret Jull Costa'The last word from a master . . . once you've been inside Marias' world, to spend too long outside is unbearable' The Sunday Times'A twisting espionage tale shot through with slantwise humour . . . seductive and inescapably poignant' Observer

'For a while, she wasn't sure that her husband was her husband. Sometimes she thought he was, and sometimes not.' Berta and Tomas meet in Madrid and, though both young, they decide to spend their lives together. Eighteen and betrothed, Tomas leaves to study at Oxford. His talent for languages quickly catches the interest of a certain government agency, but Tomas resists their offers - until one day he makes a mistake that will affect the rest of his life, and that of his beloved Berta. After university he returns to marry her, knowing he won't be able to stay for long . . . Gripping and intricate, Berta Isla is about a relationship built on secrets and lies - and the counter forces of resentment and loyalty at its core.

Juan knows little about his widowed father Ranz, a man with a troubled past. He does know, however, that before marrying Juan's mother, Ranz was married to her elder sister, who had committed suicide. The unspoken dialogue between father and son soon becomes a spelling out of the horrifying truth once Juan marries Luisa, who turns discreet confessor to the burdened old man. What gradually emerges into the cold light of day is a repetition of scenes already witnessed by Juan in the course of his travels: a married man blackmailed by his mistress in a Havana hotel, a woman in New York pursuing a sequence of shabby lovers through the lonely-hearts columns. Produced with remarkable skill and delicacy, this is a startling picture of two generations, two marriages, and the secret commerce between spouses that rests on the gossamer-thin threads of an unspoken accord.