A Heart so White is the breathtaking international bestseller and IMPAC Award-
winning masterpiece by Javier Marías, whose highly-anticipated new novel The
Infatuations is published in 2013. This Penguin Modern Classics edition features a new
Introduction by Jonathan Coe.
A Heart so White begins as, In the middle of a family lunch Teresa, just married,
goes to the bathroom, unbuttons her blouse and shoots herself in the heart. What made her
kill herself immediately after her honeymoon? Years later, this mystery fascinates the young
newlywed Juan, whose father was married to Teresa before he married Juan's mother. As Juan
edges closer to the truth, he begins to question his own relationships, and whether he
really wants to know what happened. Haunting and unsettling, A Heart So White is a
breathtaking portrayal of two generations, two marriages, the relentless power of the past
and the terrible price of knowledge.