A Change of Skin

First published in 1968, Carlos Fuentes's controversial novel A Change of Skin tells the story of four persons who drive from Mexico City to Veracruz one Palm Sunday. The Driver of the car is Franz, an ex-Nazi, and with him is his young Mexican lover Isabel, the talented but failed poet Javier, and his embittered wife, Elizabeth. There is a fifth person as well--the Narrator. Through him we discover that all the characters are searching for some real value in their lives: love for Elizabeth, creating in the case of Javier, experience for Isabel, and redemption for Franz.