Sympatie Caldern Rodrigo Blanco (2025)

Hordes of stray dogs roaming the streets bear witness to the chaos and misery afflicting Caracas, after millions of Venezuelans flee the capital and leave their dogs to fend for themselves. Odysseus Kan, a film lover and the narrator of the story, receives a simple text message from his wife Paulina: she has decided to leave both him and the country. Rather than being broken by the situation, Odysseus feels free. With little else to do, he decides to establish a foundation to rescue dogs in need. He is thus unwillingly drawn into a tangle of family and personal complications that soon make him doubt everyone around him. This new novel by a prominent Venezuelan prose writer living in Spain has been included among the nominations for the International Booker Prize.