The classic—and controversial—Mexican novella: "A beautiful horror story, a horrifying story of beauty, a combination of Poe, Baudelaire, and Isak Dinesen." — Newsweek Felipe Montero is employed in the house of an aged widow to edit her deceased husband's memoirs. There Felipe meets her beautiful green-eyed niece, Aura. His passion for Aura and his gradual discovery of the true relationship between the young woman and her aunt propel the story to its extraordinary conclusion. This ebook edition of Carlos Fuentes' novel includes only the English translation by Lysander Kemp. The Spanish text is not included. "Carlos Fuentes is a major force in contemporary Mexican letters. An heir to the exacerbated social conscience which burst forth in the flood of so-called 'novels of the Mexican Revolution,' he distinguishes himself today not only by his writing but also by the forceful leadership which he gives to the intellectual life of his country." — The New York Times "An incredible story of love, death, and fate . . . a haunting and mesmerizing experience." — The Sunflower "A novella by the author of Where the Air is Clear , The Good Conscience, and The Death of Artemio Cruz finds him at brilliant dark play as he swiftly carries the horror to its proof and inevitable fulfillment . . . Black on black, with all the accoutrements of the classic horror tale, this attains a fatalism that is the fullest realization of fantasy." — Kirkus Reviews