Fernando Aramburu will publish his new novel in September

The writer Fernando Aramburu signing books at Sant Jordi in 2017.MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI

Five years after the publication of

the novel that became the biggest publishing phenomenon in recent years, with 1,200,000 copies sold in Spanish and translated into 34 languages, next September the expected new novel by Fernando Aramburu, entitled

(Tusquets).

More information

• Uncomfortable mirror of Euskadi

• 'Patria', documented novel

The Swifts

tells of the final year of Toni, a high school teacher disappointed and angry at the world, who coldly and determinedly decides to end his life on a specific date. By then, he hopes to find out what the reasons are that have led him to such a determination. His story and that of those around him give rise to a choral and disbelieving novel, acidic, but also humorous. It is set, says its author from Germany, where he resides, in "a city that is not named, but that the reader will recognize immediately", as has been said about the locations described in some of his previous novels.

place between the summer of 2018 and the summer of 2019. The plot “is deeply anchored in the social and political reality of Spain,” continues Aramburu.

It could well be said that his latest book is the child of the pandemic: “I have been dedicated to this text for three years, but only after the health crisis have I been able to do it with time and intensity, from early in the morning until the end of the day. I stopped traveling and locked myself in with a literary toy that I have really enjoyed. Collective circumstances have given me an ideal situation for writing ”. Aramburu hopes to be vaccinated before September, when the promotion of

is scheduled to begin

. He hopes he can get on a plane and give presentations, walk through bookstores, meet readers. "I wish for all that which was so annoying to me before."

Aramburu (San Sebastián, 1959) is already considered one of the most outstanding writers in the Spanish language. He is the author of the short stories

and

, as well as novels such as

,

,

,

,

,

,

But it was

, of overwhelming success among readers, which has positioned him as a writer called to mark an epoch.

Patria

, published in September 2016, went beyond the limits of an editorial phenomenon, also becoming a social phenomenon. The novel, with 53 editions, more than 100 weeks among the best sellers and 34 translations, gave rise to the multi-award-winning HBO series. The book received numerous awards, including the National Narrative Prize, the National Prize for Critics, the Euskadi, the Francisco Umbral, the European Strega, the Premio Internazionale Giuseppe Lampedusa or the Athens Literary Prize.