''Like a Fading Shadow'' () is a novel by Spanish writer

Antonio Muñoz Molina Antonio Muñoz Molina (born 10 January 1956) is a Spanish writer and, since 8 June 1995, a full member of the Royal Spanish Academy. He received the 1991 Premio Planeta, the 2013 Jerusalem Prize, and the 2013 Prince of Asturias Award for lite ...

, published in 2014. The English translation by Camilo A. Ramirez was shortlisted for the 2018

International Booker Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize, as the Boo ...

Plot

The novel has three plotlines: first, it recounts the last days of MLK's assassin,

James Earl Ray James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive who was convicted of the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After the assassination, Ray fled to London and ...

, in Lisbon; secondly, it recounts Muñoz Molina's life in Lisbon in 1987, and finally, Muñoz Molina reflects on his life in 2014.

Reception

Bécquer Seguín of ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' praised the chapters dedicated to Ray, but criticized the chapters dedicated to the author's life in Lisbon, commenting "Only the most dedicated Muñoz Molina scholar might find something of value in chapter-length collages of writerly anxieties, boilerplate theories of the novel, and overdramatized memories of an overripe affair." The English translation by Camilo A. Ramirez was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2018 and longlisted for the

Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

in 2019.{{cite web , title=Like a Fading Shadow , url=https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/like-a-fading-shadow/ , website=Dublin Literary Award , access-date=22 March 2025 , date=3 September 2019

References

21st-century Spanish novels 2014 novels