The Heart Has Its Reasons

September 29, 2014
Duenas’s second novel (after The Time in Between) highlights a Spanish woman’s revelations as she escapes the heartbreak of her own life by studying a countryman whose life ended too soon. In 1999 Spain, linguistics professor Blanca Perea is devastated when her husband, the father of their two grown children, has left her for a younger woman who is carrying his child. Blanca is thrilled to accept a three-month fellowship at the University of Santa Cecelia, near San Francisco. Blanca’s primary assignment is to organize and assess documents once belonging to Andres Fontanta, a fellow Spaniard and former faculty member who died in the 1960s. At Santa Cecelia, Blanca meets former professor Daniel Carter, an American who spent time in Spain and knew Andres before his death. As Blanca digs through Andres’s documents, she learns about the missions that were started by the Franciscans in America and develops a closer friendship with Daniel. But she also uncovers secrets deeper than those found in the decades-old papers. Duenas’s novel is brilliantly executed, and it moves expertly between decades as it reveals truths of history and of humanity.

Part literary mystery, part love story, Due–as's second novel is emotionally complex, but Cassandra Campbell perfectly captures its nostalgia, poignancy, and gentle optimism. When her husband leaves her, Professor Bianca Perea begins a new life in far-off San Francisco, where she's drawn into the history of an enigmatic Spanish writer and the haunting stories he left behind. Campbell's narration is measured, dreamlike, and deliberate, immersing listeners in rich details and giving them time to savor the plot's numerous twists and turns. Each character is distinct and generally identifiable--especially Bianca herself, who begins the book with brokenhearted weariness but clearly grows both in self-assurance and enthusiasm as she finds new academic challenges and a new chance at love. B.E.K. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine