{"product_id":"9780374277956","title":"The Transparency of Time : A Novel","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Transparency of Time\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Leonardo Padura\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom Leonardo Padura—whose crime novels featuring Detective Mario Conde form the basis of Netflix’s \u003ci\u003eFour Seasons in Havana\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Transparency of Time\u003c\/i\u003e sees the Cuban investigator pursuing a mystery spanning centuries of occult history.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMario Conde is facing down his sixtieth birthday. What does he have to show for his decades on the planet? A failing body, a slower mind, and a decrepit country, in which both the ideals and failures of the Cuban Revolution are being swept away in favor of a new and newly cosmopolitan worship of money.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRescue comes in the form of a new case: an old Marxist turned flamboyant practitioner of Santería appears on the scene to engage Conde to track down a stolen statue of the Virgen de\u003cbr\u003eRegla—a black Madonna. This sets Conde on a quest that spans twenty-first century Havana as well as the distant past, as he delves as far back as the Crusades in an attempt to uncover the true provenance of the statue.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrough vignettes from the life of a Catalan peasant named Antoni Barral, who appears throughout history in different guises—as a shepherd during the Spanish Civil War, as vassal to a feudal lord—we trace the Madonna to present-day Cuba. With Barral serving as Conde’s alter ego, unstuck in time, and Conde serving as the author’s, we are treated to a panorama of history, and reminded of the impossibility of ever remaining on its sidelines, no matter how obscure we may think our places in the action. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEqual parts \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eName of the Rose\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eMaltese Falcon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Transparency of Time\u003c\/i\u003e cements Leonardo Padura’s position as the preeminent literary crime writer of our time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Hypnotically readable.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eTom Nolan, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Dressed in the grungy trappings of a crime drama, this literary tour-de-force from Padura offers a colorful cultural history of Cuba and the island’s historical contact with Europe that helped to shape its people’s religious beliefs . . . The author forges a wondrous connection between the past and present through his characters’ faith in the statue’s occult powers and through a vivid portrait of a decayed Havana, where vestiges of opulence glimmer in the ravages of time. Padura’s novel will appeal equally to genre fans and lovers of literary thrillers.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (\u003c\/i\u003estarred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Padura, ably translated here by Anna Kushner, is successful sticking with Conde’s hard-boiled, secretly terrified worldview . . .  I admired the ambition.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eSarah Weinman, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780374277956\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40822952198350,"sku":"9780374277956","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_6a558184-c606-423a-9485-4db0af909981.jpg?v=1643095624","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780374277956","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}