This lesurely coming-of-age novel won Spain's Ateneo de Sevilla Award for Fiction in 1976.

Set in the coastal city of San Sebastian during the summer of 1942, this evocative tale of a young boy trying to make sense of the adult world is beautifully written. Planicio's mother is dead and his father Pachi spends most of his time (and money) gambling. Father and son are often hungry. When Pachi is offered a job taking Don Ramon, a dying invalid, for walks in his wheelchair, Planicio grows to love this man, the first adult to really pay attention to him since his mother died. Their relationship is quite moving and a real highlight of the novel.