Mario Vargas Llosa's final novel, I Give You My Silence, was first published in Spanish in 2023, ahead of the Peruvian Nobel laureate's death last year at the age of 89. Far from being a morbid farewell, the book is described as an eccentric, affectionate tribute to Peru and its music, told through the story of a struggling music journalist obsessed with the vals, a Peruvian musical style blending European waltz with African and indigenous Latin American traditions.

The novel follows Toño Azpilcueta, an impoverished cultural obsessive who sets out to write a biography of a brilliant but obscure guitarist, Lalo Molfino, after witnessing his talent shortly before his sudden death. Toño becomes convinced the vals can heal Peru's traumatic history of colonialism, dictatorship and terrorism. Structurally the book interweaves two narratives: odd-numbered chapters follow Toño's research journey, while even-numbered chapters present excerpts of his finished work, forming what the reviewer calls a quirky primer on Peruvian music, culture and the concept of "huachafería", roughly meaning pretension.