Award-winning author Javier Marías examines a household living in unhappy the shadow of history, and explores the cruel, tender punishments we exact on those we love. As a young man, Juan de Vere takes a job that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Eduardo Muriel is a famous film director — urbane, discreet, irreproachable — an irresistible idol to a young man. Muriel's wife Beatriz is a s...