Berta Isla

A novel

By: Javier Marías, Margaret Jull Costa - translator

Narrated by: Frankie Corzo, Bruce Mann

From the award-winning, internationally best-selling Spanish writer, author of The Infatuations, comes a gripping new novel of intrigue and missed chances--at once a spy story and a profound examination of a marriage founded on secrets and lies.

When Berta Isla was a schoolgirl, she decided she would marry Tomás Nevinson--the dashing half-Spanish, half-English boy in her class with an extraordinary gift for languages. But when Tomás returns to Madrid from his studies at Oxford, he is a changed man. Unbeknownst to her, he has been approached by an agent from the British intelligence services, and he has unwittingly set in motion events that will derail forever the life they had planned. With peerless insight into the most shadowed corners of the human soul, Marías plunges the reader into the growing chasm between Berta and Tomás and the decisions that irreversibly change the course of the couple's fate. Berta Isla is a novel of love and truth, fear and secrecy, buried identities, and the destinies we bring upon ourselves.

Wonderfully intriguing

An incredibly thoughtful and engaging story about a spy and his wife. Complex, poignant, inner monologues about the impact on their lives rather than the swashbuckling escapades of spydom yet deeply intriguing in its own way. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Great audio production.

I am still thinking about Berta Isla...

A look at the espionage life from the point of view of the family left at home, ignorant of the secret agent’s secret. Berta Isla is the girlfriend and then wife, of a man who is destined to enter life with the British Secret service. We see the couple while still young, as students, with their whole lives ahead of them. We catch glimpses of each of them as their separate, and often disparate, lives unfold. And we see them again later on — when the secret life is over, while never actually dying. A haunting story, well written, superbly performed.

Disappointing Marias

Other than learning about the fascistic recruiting of undercover agents, this book offers little insight into the characters via their 1st person accounts. Yes! one tragic historical incident can destroy entire lives -- a theme of Marias better told in Thus Bad Begins.

Good plot, weak psychology

it's an interesting plot, but the characters are one-dimensional. Berta tells most of the story, but it's clearly a man's interpretation of her psychology, and it's not convincing. The philosophical ruminations are only moderately interesting.

Not as good as his earlier work

Some of the story is beautifully written. Audiobook is well done. Falls short compared to other novels by JM.