"The novel concerns a 29-year-old agronomist and sex enthusiast, Demetrio Sordo, who works at an orchard on the outskirts of Oaxaca. Bored, he begins to frequent a high-class bordello, where he falls in love with a “spectacular whore” named Mireya, putting the proprietors on edge. “Such unhealthy devotion was causing universal unease at the Presunción: this was the first time in its history a client had come to sin as punctually as he went, with intrepid daily devotion, to his job.” Mireya latches on to Demetrio as an escape from the brothel, but circumstance and an uncompromising madam conspire against them. Her rate rises vertiginously.
Then, on a trip to a wedding in a dusty northern town, Demetrio meets the starchy Renata. He falls in love with her, too, and courts her through letters. It is 1945: modernity and Hiroshima try to elbow in on Demetrio’s consciousness, but he’s busy pursuing the ladies."
