Waiting for Columbus

Thomas Trofimuk

From Shelf: R&J 2010 Winter

In contemporary Spain, a man arrives at an insane asylum in Seville claiming to be the legendary navigator Christopher Columbus. Who he really is, and the events that lead him to break with reality, lie at the centre of this page-turning novel.

A Richard and Judy Book Club selection.He appears out of the sea, washed up naked, in the treacherous Straits of Gibraltar. Seemingly delirious, and claiming to be Christopher Columbus, he is taken to an insane asylum in Seville, where astonishingly he starts to reveal the true story of how he set sail on behalf of the Spanish queen five hundred years ago. Consuela, a nurse at the Institute, is charged with helping him back to reality. She listens to his fantastic tales in the hope of discovering the truth. But as his story unfolds, she finds herself falling for her patient - no longer able to tell where truth ends and fantasy begins. Meanwhile, across the continent, Emile Germain is involved in a different search. He's an Interpol officer on the hunt for a missing person, presumed dangerous. He's a determined man, and when his investigation leads to Spain these two stories collide. Part romance, part mysterious thriller, Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk is a rich and emotional novel about love, loss, and the fragile beauty of our own life stories.

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