To begin the year by recommending a novel that I loved when I received it, and that we have had to wait a long time for it to come out due to calendar issues, makes me especially excited.
 
Moreover, Francesc Soler is an author who already surprised us with his novel BARCELONA DEMÀ O AQUESTA TARDA, but EL SOMRIURE DELS DOFINS, on which the publishers at Columna have taken a chance, is another genre, very different, and I hope it can reach a large audience, as it deserves. This is a novel of initiation, of discovery of the world and of one’s own identity. The protagonist tells his story of childhood, adolescence, and youth as a sensitive child, condemned to grow up in an oppressive, small-town between the 80s and 90s.  He explains how he was able to overcome the pain and celebrate life thanks to his friendship with two fantastic women, thanks to books, and thanks to his innate resilience.
 
It is a tender story, well-written, and it comes at a time when LGBTIQ+ stories have a new platform in the literary world, because luckily the world is moving forward and the younger generations look at things from another perspective, especially issues such as sexuality. However, this is not a novel only for those who will identify directly with these themes, but rather a brilliant and necessary novel that everyone should read, and that I am sure will enjoy, because anyone can find common ground with the protagonist. As you progress in the reading of it, you progress in so many important things in life, and you cannot remain indifferent to this hard-hitting story that shines with a light of its own.