Konfidenz: A Novel

The political and the personal become blurred in a series of tense, tantalizing conversations about resistance.

A pared-back yet gripping psychological novel from the acclaimed author of Death and the Maiden and Allegro.

A woman travels to Paris to meet her lover. When she arrives at her hotel, however, she receives a call from a mysterious stranger claiming to be his friend, who somehow possesses intimate knowledge of their lives and why she fled her homeland. Over the course of nine hours, this man will draw her in, revealing details about her lover’s work, which could put him in grave danger, and the growing conflict that has ensnared them all.

A brilliant, mind-bending story told almost entirely through dialogue, Konfidenz upends what we think we know, painting an insightful portrait of manipulation and divided loyalties. Taking inspiration from his own experiences of political turmoil and exile after the 1973 coup that overthrew Chilean president Salvador Allende, Ariel Dorfman infuses this novel with a remarkable urgency and authenticity.