Alan Pauls Book order

Against the backdrop of the tumultuous '70s and '80s in Argentina, Pauls tells the story of his protagonist's life and his country's history, through one potent lens: money, gained and lost. Argentina, the 70s. The syndicates have been taken over by the radicalised left wing, the industrial belt of Buenos Aires is now referred to as the red belt, and a top executive of an iron and steel company dies after his helicopter, travelling towards the factory, plummets into the river. The briefcase full of money which he was carrying disappears without a trace.

'A novel that is brilliant enough to raise itself effortlessly above and beyond the level of the vices it portrays: strange art and reckless passion, cocaine, excessive exercise and other forms of addiction' - Fabienne Dum, Le Monde Rímini splits up with his girlfriend of twelve years, Sofía. The parting is initially amicable and he moves on, carefree, with a new zest for life. Hungry to make up for lost time and keen to forget the past, he finds a younger girlfriend and starts using cocaine. Sofía, however, finds herself unable to let go, and continues to reappear on Rímini's horizon. Though the apparently idyllic relationship is over, their love has not died, merely taken on a different form. As time passes and their paths continue to cross, the past festers and torments them, like an infection.