The Coded Letter and Dear Monster

The two novels included in this volume, the first by Javier Tomeo to appear in English, recall The Trial and The Castle by Kafka, but they are Iberian, wry and sunny despite their sinister undertones.

The Coded Letter was welcomed by Spanish critics as 'that rare thing: a Spanish novel which has serious intent but is at the same time comic'. A messenger is sent with a letter to the Castle, a place of sinister mystery and of history. The history is closed to the people of the little town nearby, the dark power may no longer exist. Is the Count still alive? If you send a letter that is misunderstood, send it again, this time in code, disguise the writing. Communication may occur just when you least expect it. And if the addressee has gone away, no matter, the letter is there, written, for someone to decode.

Dear Monster, which has been successfully adapted for the stage, centers on a job interview for the post of night watchman at a bank. Inadequate Antonio and Krugger, the Personnel Manager, share a problem. Antonio has rebelled at last against a mother so possessive she has held him virtually a prisoner. Krugger, with his flat reflecting glasses and Teutonic formality, hints at a parallel confession. But Krugger hides a more macabre secret.