I Give You My Silence

Nobel laureate Vargas Llosa (Conversation in the Cathedral), who died earlier this year, tackles Peruvian history and culture in this searching novel, published in Spanish in 2023, about the limits of idealism. Toño Azpilcueta, a scholar of Peruvian criollo music, loses his professorship when the Peruvian studies department is eliminated at the National University of San Marcos. Nonetheless, he continues to write articles about the music of his homeland while his seamstress wife, Matilde, supports their household. One night, at the invitation of a renowned intellectual, he attends a private performance by criollo guitarist Lalo Molfino. Soon after the event, Azpilcueta learns that Molfino has died, and he resolves to write a book about the guitarist’s life and what he naively views as the unifying potential of criollo music in Peru. Supported by a small investment from a friend, he travels to Molfino’s coastal hometown to learn more about the guitarist. Azpilcueta doggedly pursues the project and publishes a successful book, but his obsession with perfecting the story with subsequent editions turns out to be his downfall. Vargas Llosa blends rich details of Peruvian music with a canny depiction of human folly. It’s a satisfying conclusion to a remarkable career. (Feb.)