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A Novel
by Ariel Dorfman
The political and the personal become blurred in a series of tense, tantalizing conversations about resistance.
A pared-back yet gripping psychological novel from the acclaimed author of Death and the Maiden and Allegro.
A woman travels to Paris to meet her lover. When she arrives at her hotel, however, she receives a call from a mysterious stranger claiming to be his friend, who somehow possesses intimate knowledge of their lives and why she fled her homeland. Over the course of nine hours, this man will draw her in, revealing details about her lover's work, which could put him in grave danger, and the growing conflict that has ensnared them all.
A brilliant, mind-bending story told almost entirely through dialogue, Konfidenz upends what we think we know, painting an insightful portrait of manipulation and divided loyalties. Taking inspiration from his own experiences of political turmoil and exile after the 1973 coup that overthrew Chilean president Salvador Allende, Ariel Dorfman infuses this novel with a remarkable urgency and authenticity.
"Exhilarating for its finely tuned unfolding but somber in its conclusions, Konfidenz demands a fundamental reexamination of the nature of trust." —Publishers Weekly
"Heartfelt, but too much packed into a small space, with characters who are political billboards rather than real people." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about Konfidenz was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ariel Dorfman was forced into exile from Chile after the 1973 coup that overthrew Salvador Allende. His works include the novels Windows, The Last Song of Manuel Sendero, Blake's Therapy, the acclaimed memoir Heading South, Looking North, and several plays (among them Death and the Maiden, which was made into a film by Roman Polanski). He is a distinguished professor at Duke University.
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