La linterna de papel

The narrator of this story is a poet in his late thirties who works in his parents' pub, The Paper Lantern. The arrival of the pandemic has forced them to temporarily close, so he has no other occupation than to walk through the hills that surround his town. He lives in a village in central England near Checkers - the British Prime Minister's vacation home - an area where success is measured by the achievements of children, the price of cars and the exuberance of gardens. Away from the big city, there reigns the feeling that confinement is just a long festive bridge. Isolated and out of place, the narrator evokes during his walks a traumatic past and a present without a compass. Mixing his reflections with the description of clandestine raves in remote valleys or with the history of the great nearby mansions, Burns's literary mastery manages to reflect a key moment in the collective experience of the 21st century, with the background of the impact of confinement, the consequences of climate change and the relentless effects of late capitalism.