Survival and Corruption in A Matter of Latitude

Celestino believes the collision that leaves him injured was deliberate in Isobel Blackthorn's A Matter of Latitude. An anti-corruption activist on Lanzarote, he hides in an abandoned fishing village because he fears for his life. His wife Paula, meanwhile, does not know where he is.

Two sides of a disappearance

Celestino needs a way to get home safely. Paula needs information about what has happened to him. Their situations give the search two different kinds of urgency: one person is trying to remain hidden, while the other is trying to find him.

The island setting is specific without needing to turn every location into a tourist attraction. A lonely road and a deserted village create practical conditions for isolation. Celestino's work as an activist supplies a reason for his suspicion, while the story leaves the attacker's identity unresolved.

A search attracts attention

As Paula looks for her husband, she realizes that she is being followed. Her effort to obtain answers therefore creates a threat of its own. The danger cannot be confined to the injured man waiting out of sight.

Paula and Celestino need to reconnect while facing different parts of the same danger. Hiding protects him from being found; searching may expose her to people watching her movements. The distance between them turns an effort to get home into a problem in which visibility and secrecy can each carry a cost.