The Knots of Silence

This complex narrative of intrigue, memories, and suspense merits the attention of an active and perceptive audience that can piece together the variegated lines of thought shared by the protagonists of the novel. Three very different worlds come together under one roof in the sordid confines of a striptease joint in Paris. Poetic and vulgar voices mingle and diverge through the present and past as each character tries to come to terms with his or her own identity. 'I just don’t want to go, Manuel. I don’t want to! How can you think I’d like to see a live sex act, with lights and music! What do you think? They’re going to charge you to watch it on video? Of course they show their bodies. That’s what it’s all about. It’s not me, Manuel, listen to me. It’s so intimate and foreign, so... a man and a woman suspended only by their panting, showing everything to whomever wants to gather the fruit. And we, in front, watching the ups and downs of desire, borrowed or true, I don’t know. How can they ignore the spectators, I wonder. Just a matter of practice, my dear. We’re in Paris!

Renée Ferrer's first novel, Los nudos del silencio, has been translated into Italian and French, and is now presented in English. This complex narrative of intrigue, memories, and suspense merits the attention of an active and perceptive audience that can piece together the variegated lines of thought shared by the protagonists of the novel. Three very different worlds come together under one roof in the sordid confines of a striptease joint in Paris. Poetic and vulgar voices mingle and diverge through the present and past as each character tries to come to terms with his or her own identity. For the first time an English speaking audience will be able to enjoy the intricacies and nuances of The Knots of Silence, undoubtedly a magnificent novel, very well translated by Betsy Partyka.