To José María Mur for infecting me with his desire to learn about the past, for helping me in my research, and for bringing me fresh news of his trip to Guinea, news also brought to me by Brother Josean Villalabeitia.
To Maruja de San Lucas for helping me out on fashion and menu issues from past decades.
To Fernando García Gimeno for being the best guardian of the details and descriptions of some years that would have been forgotten without him and for kindly answering all my questions.
To Ana Corell, Pedro Aguaviva, and Felisa Ferraz for their judicious and useful comments on the first draft.
To Ramón Badía Vidal for his first impressions of the novel, his professionalism, and his understanding.
To Cristina Pons for her wise, accurate, opportune, and indispensable advice, without which this novel would not have reached a successful port. But most of all, for helping me to fearlessly ascend the slope of the fevers.
And finally, to my editor, Raquel Gisbert, for believing in this project and for offering me the exceptional and exciting possibility of allowing my novel to see the light of day. Thanks to her, I can very specially dedicate it—as a humble tribute—to those from here who lived there and to their descendants and to those from there who had to live with those from here and to their descendants.
I hope we can all understand one another a little better.