Aside from My Heart, All Is Well

Colombian author Abad follows The Farm with a mesmerizing chronicle of Luis Cordóba, an opera-loving priest and film critic, based loosely on the life of Luis Alberto Alvarez (1945–1996). After spending Christmas and ringing in the new year of 1996 in a hospital’s cardiology ward, Luis, 50, is expressly forbidden by his doctor from climbing stairs while he awaits a heart transplant. This means he won’t be able to live in the Medellin house he’s shared for the past 20 years with his fellow priest and best friend, Aurelio “Lelo” Sánchez, who narrates the novel. As a result, Luis moves in with their mutual friend Teresa. While awaiting his transplant, he watches movies, listens to opera, organizes a weekly gastronomy club, and teaches and entertains Teresa’s children. Abad offers a remarkable depiction of the harmony sustained in the priests’ secular interests and spiritual devotion. In his narration, Lelo flits seamlessly from references to film, literature, and music to frank accounts of the hypocrisy and sexual abuse he witnessed and experienced at his first seminary, which drove him to the seminary where he met and befriended Luis. Most moving is Lelo’s affection for Luis, as when he describes how Luis’s passion for a Pasolini film starring Maria Callas caused Teresa to fall in love with opera. The novel builds to a poignant conclusion, as Luis says before his operation: “Life is the possibility of being near others, with love.” It’s an immersive and affecting tale. (Apr.)