A forgotten treasure, most certainly. This novel, published in a first English edition in 1969 translated from Spanish, is set in Montevideo by a well known Uruguayan author and is perhaps his least well known work. The book is a first person narrative in the form of journal entries by a corporate accounting supervisor and widower approaching fifty years old. It is at once a philosophical treatise, ruminations of his marriage, a story of his parenting and engaging with his three children, and an unexpected love story. The romance is pared down to a palatable and undiluted simplicity. It is evocative, romantic, and heart-wrenching while expressing so many life truths without ramblings. A concise masterwork best read by women under forty and men over forty. ( )