Oscar Mandinga, great-grandchild of the founders of a small hamlet deep in the Cuban hinterland, is a sardonic teller of tales - some taller than others. But one day Oscar wakes to find himself utterly alone, the sole descendant of his family line. He is not sure what to do or where to go, but in the midst of this uncertainty, he holds fast to what his grandfather always told him: 'No man knows who he is until he knows his past.' So Oscar sets out to find his ancestral village and the meaning of the magical pig's-foot amulet he has inherited.

Translated by: Frank Wynne