Martutene

Set in the current Basque Country, "Martutene" is an ambitious and truly grand novel with a splendid array of characters: two bourgeois couples worn down by years of marriage, their group of friends, and the newcomer Lynn, a young American sociologist. An insightful portrait of the post-ETA Basque c [...]
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Set in the current Basque Country, "Martutene" is an ambitious and truly grand novel with a splendid array of characters: two bourgeois couples worn down by years of marriage, their group of friends, and the newcomer Lynn, a young American sociologist. An insightful portrait of the post-ETA Basque country and an exploration of those thoughts and feelings that expose our miseries and our deepest fears as human beings. The plot is driven by two main stories - those of Abaitua and Pilar, and of Julia and Martin - against the backdrop of Martutene, a neighbourhood in San Sebastian. This mixed residential and industrial area, where remains from the rural past merge with discrete mansions from the Belle Epoque, and with modern architectonic disasters and the local prison, carries deep socio-political resonances and serves, in the author's own words, as a metaphor of the whole Basque Country. Through Abaitua's and Julia's alternate accounts we learn the story of both couples, two worn down marriages. The arrival of Lynn, a young American sociologist who stays at Martin and Julia's house, unravels the emotional background of the two couples.Lynn plays a pivotal role that induces them to explain some of everyday life's problems in the current Basque country, particularly its identity and language.At the same time, her affair with Abaitua masterfully plays out against Max Frisch's "Montauk" and offers and engaging love story.