The Hidden One

"I couldn't see anything underwater, even with my eyes open: a viscous, black, cold barrier, which, in my eagerness to escape, felt like a soup of oil in which my arms and legs made me advance very slowly, even if I moved them with all my strength."

This novel revolves around La Oculta, a farm hidden in the mountains of Colombia. Pilar, Eva, and Antonio Ángel are the last heirs of this land that has survived several generations of the family. There they have spent the happiest moments of their lives, but they have also had to face the siege of violence and terror, uneasiness, and flight.

Through the voices of the three siblings, the recounting of their loves, fears, desires, and hopes, and with a dazzling landscape as a backdrop, Héctor Abad Faciolince illuminates in La Oculta the vicissitudes of a family and a town, as well as the moment when the paradise on which they built their realities and their dreams is about to be lost.

An intimate and transgressive look at a thriving and traditionalist society, which confirms Héctor Abad as one of the great writers of current Latin American literature.

Critics have said:
"A masterpiece."
Neue Zürcher Zeitung

"A thoughtful and delicate story, vividly responsive to Colombia's natural beauty as well as its slaughter."
Daily Mail

"An elegy to the fragile paradises we all must leave behind."
Le Monde

"Héctor Abad Faciolince handles autobiographical material in that loose, but truthful sense, which already made El olvido que seremos an outstanding text. [...] For literary admiration, I highly recommend it."
Marta Sanz, Babelia

"[...] because it is well written, because it is well told, because the characters reflect life, human core, authentic daily life, and because the writer is able to cover more than a century of Colombian life."
Luis Alonso Girgado, Diario de Bergantiños