Already an old man, Cayute, the central character of the novel, undertakes an exercise in retrospection, through which we learn the history of Almoneda, an imaginary territory on the frontier between Spain and Portugal. In this species of journey through the collective memory of the nation, readers discover an unusual place, inhabited by unclassifiable characters. At the same time, they become witnesses to the irreparable loss of childhood involved, for Cayute and his friends, in the unstoppable devastation of Almoneda. They too will progressively distance themselves from that magical land. Only Cayute will fulfil the promise the children made to never abandon that intimate, personal universe. With outstanding narrative fluidity and exuberance, and complete mastery of language, he has produced an amazingly powerful novel both in its style and suggestive capacity.