A Heart So White

A Heart So White by Javier Marías was first published in Spain in 1992 (original title Corazón tan blanco.) Margaret Jull Costa's English translation was first published by The Harvill Press in 1995. The book received the International Dublin Literary Award in 1997. An edition was published by Penguin Books in 2012, with an introduction by Jonathan Coe.[1]

A Heart So White

First edition (Spanish)
Author	Javier Marías
Original title	Corazón tan blanco
Translator	Margaret Jull Costa
Cover artist	Henri Gervex, Rolla - 1878
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Editorial Anagrama S.A., Barcelona
Publication date	1992
Published in English	1995 (The Harvill Press)
Media type	Print
OCLC	52084231

Plot

The narrator, Juan, seeks to use his newly-wed wife, Luisa, to uncover the murky past of his father's previous marriages which include (aside from Juan's mother) two other women. The first of these women is unnamed and kept secret from Juan, while the second was the older sister of Juan's mother.

Reception

The New York Times wrote "Marías's challenging and seductive technique reaches its pinnacle in A Heart So White."[2] The Independent wrote that it "starts from a suicide to explore the secrets of two marriages with all the hypnotic, even sinister, beauty of his style"[3] BOMB magazine described it as "traditional" and "refreshingly un-American."[4]

References

1. Marías, Javier. "A Heart so White". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
2. "Stranger Than Fiction". movies2.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
3. "A Heart So White, By Javier Marias". The Independent. 2012-08-11. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
4. "Javier Marías's A Heart So White by Minna Proctor - BOMB Magazine". bombmagazine.org. Retrieved 2019-08-21.

External links

• "Stranger Than Fiction," by Wendy Lesser, New York Times, May 6, 2001.
• A Heart So White reviewed by Ben Donnelly, Review of Contemporary Fiction, Spring 2001.