In his international bestseller "In Search of Klingsor, " Jorge Volpi takes us from the Institute of Advanced Study to the heart of Hitler's Germany, where the line between truth and lies is all but dissolved.Mysterious, seductive, and immediately engrossing, this startlingly accomplished thriller explores the nexus between science and human nature and how they shaped the world in the aftermath of World War II.

In 1940, Francis Bacon, a brilliant young American physicist, is invited to join the prestigious institute at Princeton, the world's foremost physics research facility. But a series of personal indiscretions forces him to accept a different, more sinister, assignment: uncover "Klingsor," Hitler's top adviser on the scientific work in the Third Reich, including the race to create the first atomic bomb.

Bacon's efforts to expose the truth lead him to Gustav Links, a survivor of the attempted coup against Hitler. With Link's help, he continues researching postwar Germany -- in an era when a secret was really a secret and a lie wasn't necessarily a sin -- and falls into a complicated relationship with an alluring woman. His search for Klingsor, an ominous and seemingly omnicient adversary, is part mystery, part psychological puzzle, part witty intellectual game. "In Search of Klingsor" places real people in speculative historical fiction, combining the ingenuity of a scientific investigation with the suspense of a great espionage novel.

Based on historical documents about the devastation caused by the atomic bomb and on first-hand accounts and writings from victims of the massacre, this is the Japanese novel that has best confronted the consequences of the atomic explosion in Hiroshima. The novel focuses on a young woman, Yasuko, who was caught by surprise in the radioactive black rain that fell on the outskirts of Hiroshima. The possible consequences of her contact with the radiation give way to an endless amount of gossip and questions among her suitors: Is she sick? Can she still bear children? Her family remembers those fateful days spent trying to rid themselves of the danger that threatens her. Masuji Ibuse portrays the complex web of emotions that develops between survivors who continue to endure illness and pain caused by the explosion, and who are unaware of the extent to which their health could be compromised. "Basada en documentos historicos sobre la devastacion causada por la bomba atomica y en entrevistas y diarios de victimas de la masacre, esta es la novela japonesa que mejor se ha enfrentado a las consecuencias de la explosion atomica en Hiroshima. El libro se centra en la historia de una joven, Yasuko, que se vio sorprendida por la lluvia negra radioactiva que cayo en los alrededores de Hiroshima. Las posibles consecuencias de su contacto con la radiacion han dado lugar a un sinfin de habladurias entre los pretendientes de la joven: estara enferma?, podra tener hijos? Su familia rememora aquellos dias aciagos tratando de conjurar el peligro que la acecha. Masuji Ibuse retrata con sensibilidad y con un esperanzado humor la compleja red de emociones que se establece entre unos supervivientes que siguen soportando las enfermedades y el dolor provocados por la explosion y que ignoran hasta que punto su salud puede estar afectada."

"He was named Jorge, like me, and for this his life hurts me twice." So writes Jorge Volpi in this highly original novel that presents a biographical perspective on the tragic life of the poet and chemist Jorge Cuesta. Cuesta was one of the founders of Los Contemporaneos, an influential twentieth-century literary movement. The poetic voice of Cuesta's verses can be heard throughout, offering insights into the creative and destructive forces and impulses in his work that eventually led to a mental ward--and a shocking suicide at thirty-eight. The fictional "Jorge," as narrator, embarks on an obsessive quest to understand the life of the long-dead poet, with the distance between subject and researcher blurring as he finds himself struggling to understand his own life. It is a brave search for anyone willing to gaze into the mirror of mortality "in spite of the dark silence."