Talking to Ourselves

One trip. Two love stories. Three voices. Sooner or later, we all face loss. Ten-year old Lito is almost sure that he can change the weather, if only he concentrates very hard. His father Mario, who is seriously ill, is anxious to create a life-long memory for the unsuspecting Lito and takes him on a road-trip in a truck called Pedro. Together, father and son embark on a journey through strange landscapes which blur the borders of the Spanish-speaking world. In the meantime, Lito's mother Elena tries to find solace in books - and soon undertakes a precarious adventure of her own that will challenge her moral limits. Alternately narrated by the father, mother and son, the latest novel by the acclaimed writer Andrés Neuman explores the ways in which we converse with ourselves through thought, speech and writing. Each of these solitary, richly textured and strikingly unique voices forms a poignant communication - while none of them dares to tell the others the whole truth. This is a story about how we are transformed by loss, physically and emotionally - and how words, and sex, can serve as powerful modes of resistance. A profound tribute to all those who have ever had to care for a loved one, told with Neuman's characteristic warmth, bittersweet humour and wide-ranging intellect. Andrés Neuman was born in 1977 in Argentina, but now lives and works in Spain. Neuman has published numerous novels, short stories, essays and poetry collections. His first novel to be translated into English, Traveller of the Century, was awarded the Alfaguara Prize and the National Critics Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. See more