Many authors would have loved to write this novel. Her hallucinating and feverish writing style is the basis for a realist and fantastic narrative, historical and magical, suggesting our unbridled modernity, full of surprises and excesses. I had the pleasure of writing the prologue of her second novel, El loco, and found myself again in front of a most commendable literary work. It constitutes a praiseworthy piece within the Latin-American tradition of political novels or satires. The force of her writing appears on every page, but above all, her courage to write without veils about the Ecuadorian political scene. I enjoyed this novel very much, particularly, when I noticed that its pages were researched in a collection of press articles, historical letters and commentaries. The outcome is a fascinating account of the political events that have shaken her country through the years. Let’s return to the recent novel of Rocío Durán Barba, Ecuador, the Lifting of the Veil, which confirms once again the author’s talent as a writer, and her unique and unmistakable style.

I have been asked on several occasions, which writer or literary trend inspires her? I have to admit that she is clearly original. She does not follow any of the famous Latin-American writers, nor does she identify herself with any current trend. This is one of her main characteristics and particular value of her work. The plot of this novel is hallucinating. It narrates the meeting with the author of Ecuador, Henri Michaux, who returns to life in a strange fashion to become the main character in the novel. The story allows Durán-Barba not only to disprove the diaries of Michaux, but also to make us discover Ecuador past and present as only she can do: with a narrative full of sensitivity and imagination. Page after page, we come face to face with its mountains and seashore, its villages, its indigenous communities, its jungle, and historical traditions and legends. The work follows a rhythm of surprising, quick passed, amusing chapters, which do not overlook the realities and problems of today’s world, particularly those of Ecuador.