Inez (Harvest Book)

From one of the world's greatest writers, this magical new novel weaves together the stories of two couples, two eras, and two grand passions.

Gabriel Atlan-Ferrara, a fabled orchestral conductor, and Inez Prada, a red-haired Mexican diva, are brought together in passion by Berlioz's music for The Damnation of Faust. Meanwhile, the mysterious tale of Neh-el and Ah-nel-the first lovers in human history-unfolds, seductively echoing the Faustian pact of love and death. Linking these narratives is a beautiful crystal seal that belongs to Atlan-Ferrara, its meaning an obsession and its power an enigma. Like the light refracted through the seal, these stories radiate into prehistory and infinity, revealing Carlos Fuentes at the height of his magical and realist powers. Inez, profound and beautiful, confirms his standing as one of the world's preeminent novelists.

"Fuentes is masterful. . . . The effect is a grand, passionate, poetically written book that plays out on the page much as the opera it centers on would play out on the stage."-Orlando Sentinel

"[Inez] is prismatic, structurally risky, at times dangerously melodramatic, overtly Faustian. It offers proof of Fuentes' still hungry and inventive mind."-The Baltimore Sun

Carlos Fuentes is the author of more than a dozen novels as well as several works of nonfiction, and has received many awards, including the Cervantes Prize. Born in Panama, he divides his time between Mexico City and London.

Two narratives twine through this superb novel: one introduces Gabriel Atlan-Ferrara, a fabled orchestral conductor, and his great passion, Inez Prada, a red-haired Mexican diva; the other is a mysterious telling of the first encounter in human history between a man and a woman. Berlioz's music for The Damnation of Faust brings Gabriel and Inez together, while the emerging love of neh-el and ah-nel--the original lovers--echoes the Faustian pact of love and death. Linking these narratives is a beautiful crystal seal that belongs to Atlan-Ferrara, its meaning an enigma that obsesses him. And like the light refracted through the seal, these stories begin in prehistory and spiral out into infinity.

In Inez, we find Carlos Fuentes at the height of his magical and realist powers. This profound and beautiful work confirms his standing as one of the world's pre-eminent novelist.

Carlos Fuentes is the author of more than a dozen novels as well as several works of nonfiction, and has received many awards. He divides his time between Mexico City and London.