Author Gabriel Urza said in an interview that a primary theme of ALL THAT FOLLOWED was that “self-deception is often necessary for survival, but that these deceptions have a way of getting out of control, of defining and dictating our lives.” He set his novel in a small town entirely of his making, named it Muriga and placed it in the Basque country of Spain. Then he began to make his theme come alive.

Long before the story opens in 2004, Joni Garrett, an American, came to Muriga to teach English. He will be one of three of the town’s residents who will tell us what happened. His much younger friend Mariana, the wife of José Antonio Torres --- aspiring councilman, father and political murder victim --- will be another. And the third will be Iker Abarzuza, a teenager convicted of killing José Antonio. Through them, we will explore Muriga’s dark secrets.

"ALL THAT FOLLOWED is a slow burn that reaches a quiet climax, leaving us satisfied, introspective and a touch sorrowful. Yet Gabriel Urza allows his readers hope at the end as there’s a glimmer of it as we close the book."

Joni, Mariana and Iker all lived in Muriga, crossing paths occasionally if not often. Mariana was Joni’s closest friend who remained forever an outsider in the tiny Spanish town, thus having few real friends. Joni was tutoring Iker, working to help the young man pass his exams. Mariana had seen the student around Muriga but had no other connection to him. Of course, Iker himself had noticed the councilman’s beautiful wife. Brimming with the idealism of youth, he wanted to make life better for himself and, as all idealists espouse, better for his people, so he joined a loose group of violent revolutionaries. The interactions of our three narrators are both tender and tragic. But when they turn introspective, they discover they have much to atone for. As the author says, the self-deceptions have a way of getting out of control.

Joni betrayed his friend but told himself it was the right thing to do. Mariana betrayed her husband but felt little remorse. Iker was perhaps the most tragic in that he had plans, good plans, to embark on a new life. He was studying hard so that he could escape Muriga’s smothering atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone’s business. He had a girlfriend he cared for deeply, and she for him. But his friends pushed and pulled him, cajoling him to join them, to follow them as they wreaked havoc in the name of change.

After years, generations even, the town had grown accustomed to the protests and explosions. Like a war air raid, they knew the drill. Then, as soon as the violence had spent itself, little Muriga returned to normal once again. But killing the councilman went too far. So many lives were ruined following José Antonio’s death, nothing ever could be the same. The radicals lost whatever gains they might have made. They crossed a forbidden line, leaving closet sympathizers shaking their heads and condemning the murder. Mariana had lost her husband and her child’s father, but also her shroud of secrecy, for every inch of her life was open to scrutiny. Joni lost his friend, which just heaped another loss on top of many in his life. And Iker lost his freedom, his love and his future.

As the story unfolds, the reader feels almost as though watching the making of a terrorist. Iker is young and moldable, ripe for radicalizing. His friends have taken the bait already, now eager to convince him that theirs is a righteous path. We can foresee the devastation in their upcoming plans and feel the frustration of the inability to stop it. None of us can ever know what might have been had we chosen the road not taken, but here we must believe it most certainly would have been better.

ALL THAT FOLLOWED is a slow burn that reaches a quiet climax, leaving us satisfied, introspective and a touch sorrowful. Yet Gabriel Urza allows his readers hope at the end as there’s a glimmer of it as we close the book. Each of our three narrators have learned valuable lessons and, coming out wiser, seem willing to start again, this time vowing to get it right.