Jackie says, "At times hilarious, at others, heartbreaking, this is a very impressive first novel for this Venezuelan author."

Ernesto Durán is convinced he is sick. It becomes an obsession far exceeding hypochondria, and when Dr Andrés Miranda gives up responding to his letters and e-mails, Durán resolves to stalk him. The fixation has its own creeping effect on Karina, the hospital secretary, who cannot resist becoming involved.

Meanwhile Dr Miranda is coming to terms with a tragedy of his own: his father has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and yet the doctor - the son - finds it im-possible to tell him. He hopes that by taking his father on a trip to Isla Margarita, where they once went when he was a child, he might be able to reveal the truth.

The nature of sickness as experienced by two individuals provides the backbone to this tender, thoughtful and refined novel. The Sickness is profound and philosophical, and yet written with an agility that expresses the tragedy, but also the comedy of life itself.

Jackie says:
"Andres Miranda is a doctor in the middle of a lot of drama--he's just found out his father is dying but can't bring himself to tell him, AND he's got a uber-hypochondriac patient who desperately wants the doctor to validate his firmly possessed notion that he is gravely ill.  This slim novel covers a lot of ground in a quiet way, introducing philosophical questions about illness and dying, pain and lying.  Translated from the original Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa, the lyric style comes alive and keeps the reader turning the pages as these stories come to their inevitable ends.  At times hilarious, at others, heartbreaking, this is a very impressive first novel for this Venezuelan author."