Surrender, author: Ray Louriga

Who are we really when circumstances change us? The war continues for a full decade. No one knows its course, who was the aggressor and who was the victim. Life in the town continues between fear of betrayal and longing for those fighting at the front. When the time comes to evacuate the area for security reasons, he begins to make his way with his wife and young Julio; the hand of help in soothing his pain caused by the absence of his two soldier sons. It seems that a fortified future awaits them in the transparent city, that strange happy city where everything is public property. There, memories disappear, and with them any trace of privacy, including the privacy of feeling fear, until the moment when consciousness awakens and submits to accept the consequences. A Kafkaesque and Orwellian story about power and collective manipulation. A parable about our societies laid bare before everyone’s eyes and judgments. And without falling into the trap of moral preaching, through the humble, reflective voice of the narrator who is not devoid of a surprising sense of humor, the author builds a captivating story about exile, loss, fatherhood, and emotions. An astonishing plot, every page leading us to a shocking ending whose echo remains inside the reader for a long time after finishing the book. - From the decision of the judging committee of the «Alfaguara» Prize for 2017. Number of pages: 159