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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2023
This chapter will propose a reading of La lógica del vampiro [The Logic of the Vampire] predicated upon an exploration of the vampire motif which the author's choice of title spotlights. In keeping with some – but not all – of her fiction, this title highlights a disjunction between the main storyline and the underlying subject matter of the text, the former being ostensibly about the first-person narrator, Elvira's search for her missing brother, Diego, culminating in the confirmation of her worst fears, that he is dead, having probably committed suicide. The setting is in and near Seville, the protagonist's home town, to which she has returned from her present base in Madrid, having received a telegram from Diego's friend, Pablo, reporting her brother's death. On arrival, however, she meets others from his social circle who allege Pablo's unreliability and melodramatic character and seem to be unconcerned for Diego's safety; they assume he is fine and staying in the country house of one of them, Alfonso. The plotting carefully makes plausible the protagonist's inability to confirm either version of events for the bulk of the novel, by adopting a slow pace and detailing all the circumstances (the house is off the beaten track, impossible for a taxi driver to find, for example, making Elvira dependent on Alfonso to give her lifts there only when he is available) that thwart the protagonist's attempts to track her brother down. It also adds to these a characterization of Diego and his relationship with his sister that allow the reader to accept both that he might disappear for some time without contacting anyone and that his sister would not necessarily know if he had been going through problems serious enough to make him suicidal. When Diego is finally found dead, his ex-girlfriend, Mara and Alfonso are with the protagonist and behave completely credibly, seeming shocked and horrified themselves and trying to offer moral support to his sister.
However, this plot summary does not convey what the novel is really about.
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