The Strangers

A Spanish-gothic version of a Patricia Highsmith novel.

Jon and Katharina spend the winter in Jon's childhood home on the Cantabrian coast, lonely and bored, ambivalent about their precarious freelance jobs and disconnected in their relationship. Yet, the couple's routine will soon be disturbed when one rainy night, they witness strange lights in the sky over the village.

The next morning, ufologists begin to arrive in the village, anxious to make extraterrestrial contact. The morning brings other unexpected guests: Jon's distant cousin, Markel, and his companion, the silent, alluring Virginia. The visit becomes increasingly uncomfortable as—like the ufologists camped out in view of the house—the strangers stay on and show little sign of planning to leave. Days stretch into weeks, even as the cousins can't remember ever having met, Virginia's behaviour becomes subtly threatening, and Jon begins to doubt that Markel is who he says he is...

A deliciously tense and darkly humorous novella that explores the border that separates love from routine and offers a twist on the theme of 'the other' and how to live with the unknown, The Strangers introduces English readers to a singular talent.

'To speak of Jon Bilbao is to speak of one of the most important figures in Spanish narrative of the twenty-first century and, in particular, of the short distances of the story.' - Marcos Gendre, Mondo Sonoro

'Mixing the everyday with the extraordinary doesn't always work, but Jon Bilbao manages to do it without having to write 400 pages...' - Pilar Martin, Hola News

'...Bilbao dominates like few others in Spanish letters.' - Paula Corroto, El Confidencial