Now retired, Nikasio visits his grandson every Thursday at the cemetery in Ortuella.
He is one of the many children who lost their lives in a gas explosion at a school in this small town-a tragedy that shook the Basque Country and all of Spain in 1980.

Through the grandfather's experiences-who gradually emerges as a deeply moving figure-through the mother's testimony years later, and through the chronicle of what unfolded within the family, we witness how the shocking tragedy changed people, how it brought to light unexpected aspects, overturning everything completely.

Surrendered to Aramburu's masterful storytelling, the reader is immersed in a tale of unexpected emotions-a psychological and literary exploration with a sharp scalpel-captivated by the course of the protagonists' lives, in a novel of exceptional emotional density, one that is read again and again, down to the very last line.

"Raw, written with respect and authentic emotion-magnificent!" - Esquire

"The Child is a portrait-both moving and harrowing-of the fragile human nature." - El Cultural

"With a unique ability to delve into the innermost shelters of pain, The Child is a book that literally speaks. A book read with a deep sense of suspended anguish." - Corriere della Sera