It all begins with a faded photograph taken in Chetumal (Mexico) in 1938, portraying Emma and Héctor, the parents of Héctor Aguilar Camín, as newlyweds. The author is moved to investigate his family origins, driven by a search for both a familial and personal identity.

Adiós a los padres is a painfully personal novel about the need for a narrative that tells you where your grandparents come from, how your parents met, why they married or separated, why they were who they were and why you are who you are. In impeccable, moving prose, Héctor Aguilar Camín delves into his past as far as he can go, reflecting on how fate has lead him back to his parents, whom he hasn’t seen for decades, on two different floors of a hospital where they both are ailing.

‘Recovered absences’, an article in El País on the novel Goodbye to My Parents by Héctor Aguilar Camín. (Spanish)