Absence Beginnings for Individuals

It is how absence begins: "Amaia. Amaia, it's me, Mikel. Listen, I have to... I have to leave before they find me. I'm going to do something bad, very bad. Not even you will be able to save me this time. Please, forgive me. Forgive me and don't come. Don't call the police. Trust no one. And, above all, don't play their game. Don't play their..."

Anne was eighteen years old when she disappeared on the night of St. John's in 2008, amidst fireworks, bonfires, music, and revelry, following a heated argument with her boyfriend Mikel. Ten years have passed, and Anne's disappearance remains a mystery. She has not been found, neither alive nor dead.

But now, it is Mikel, tormented by the past, who disappears without a trace, leaving many unanswered questions. Before vanishing, Mikel left a disquieting message for his sister Amaia, who, two months later, leaves her life in Paris behind and returns to Coaña, Asturias.

Amaia not only has to confront her own demons but also the darkness of others, until she solves a puzzle filled with deaths, absences, and secrets that are difficult to accept, while simultaneously struggling to resist the allure of her first love.

How many heartbeats do we lose throughout our lives? How many losses can we endure?

The new novel by Lorena Franco, a two-time Finalist in the Amazon Storyteller Literary Award and one of the best-selling authors on Amazon, sheds light on the opacity of life in small communities, the suffocation of family circles with their secrets and lies, and the emotions that overflow, sweeping everything away. These are some of the elements that permeate "Así es como empieza la ausencia," a thriller set in Coaña, Asturias, with excursions to Paris and Madrid, which, beyond entertainment, shakes us and provides many other reasons for reflection.

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