Su questi (e su altri) versi del poeta americano è montata tutta la vicenda narrata da Marìas. Il suo è uno schema collaudato, i versi vengono riproposti più volte e ogni volta ricontestualizzati. Un gioco di echi e di seduzione.

The story is told primarily from Berta’s perspective. For her, the awful situation is knowing that she has a husband who is essentially concealing much of his life from her. She is also dealing with the fact that, when he disappears, he may be dead, a prisoner or just decided to have gone into hiding. In short, she is living a life which is a lie and full of uncertainty. Even when he is there, he seems distracted and morose. The opening sentence of For a certain period, she was not sure that her husband was her husband refers to the fact that this man is not the man (she thought) she married. Other women may well have left him. She does not.En cierta forma, “Berta Isla” no es a lo que me tenía acostumbrado el autor. Con un estilo más fluido, menos proustiano, por decirlo de alguna manera, Marías urde una trama con cierta intriga en la que incluso se permite dar un par de vueltas de tuerca sorprendentes. No obstante, las muchas cuestiones aquí planteadas son ya clásicas en la literatura del autor, y no falta ninguna de sus señas características, sus serpenteantes especulaciones, los extensos diálogos, las numerosas citas, las múltiples formas de profundizar en la misma idea, de matizarla, de abordarla, su ironía y hasta sus toques de humor y la mala leche que adorna sus diatribas sobre todo lo que le molesta de nuestros usos y costumbres actuales. También mantiene su gusto por las escenas perturbadoras en las que se recrea lenta y detalladamente, que son trituradas concienzudamente, con profundidad, incluso con saña hasta quedar reducidas a polvo, algo así como en ese verso de Eliot, uno entre los abundantes mantras, tan del gusto del autor, que aparecerán una y otra vez a lo largo de la novela: ‘El polvo suspendido en el aire señala el lugar en el que terminó una historia’. Tom nu îi poate dezvălui Bertei realitatea vieții sale secrete. Ea va îndura absențele sale din ce în ce mai lungi până când într-o zi el pleacă și nu se mai întoarce, iar ea este lăsată singură împreună cu doi copii mici pe care trebuie să îi crească.

Bewitching… it is reminiscent of riddle creators like Borges, and Marías’s plots, ingenious as chess moves, bring to mind the great master strategist, Vladimir Nabokov.”Vorrei che provassero a leggere Berta Isla i cultori di libri di thriller o spionaggio, soprattutto coloro che si limitano al genere senza esplorare altro perché la cornice di questo romanzo è per elezione da thriller: servizi segreti britannici in uno scacchiere geopolitico mondiale solo accennato, Thomas il protagonista maschile appartiene ad un corpo militare non diplomatico né civile delle forze armate, un po’ un libro alla Greene ma decisamente più tortuoso e logorroico, diciamo che il nostro (Marias) non ha proprio il dono della sintesi, ma glielo si perdona volentieri. From the award-winning, internationally best-selling Spanish writer, author of The Infatuations, comes a gripping new novel of intrigue and missed chances–at once a spy story and a profound examination of a marriage founded on secrets and lies. Un esempio a caso, tra le decine che si potrebbero portare: Tomás Nevison è un tipo che fa riflessioni di questo genere: A autenticidade, aliada ao talento narrativo, é uma das grandes virtudes de Marías. Berta Isla é disso um exemplo magnífico.» — J. A. Masoliver Ródenas, La Vanguardia

A finales de año escuché en una emisora una tertulia entre críticos literarios. Opinaban sobre cuáles para ellos habían sido los mejores libros escritos a lo largo del año en habla hispana. En cuanto escuché nombrar a su autor me quedé con el título: “Berta Isla”. Berta Isla es una de las más complejas y atrevidas novelas del autor y, sin duda, la más inquietante y desolada.»Marías operated a small publishing house under the name of Reino de Redonda. He also wrote a weekly column in El País. An English version of his column "La Zona Fantasma" is published in the monthly magazine The Believer. Marías began writing in earnest at an early age. "The Life and Death of Marcelino Iturriaga", one of the short stories in While the Women are Sleeping (2010), was written when he was just 14. He wrote his first novel, "Los dominios del lobo" (The Dominions of the Wolf), at age 17, after running away to Paris. Marias often places real figures in his fiction, so to steal from a novelist is no great leap. Morse is a jarring note, though, too playful for the sombre subject in hand. Because for Tomas, joining the secret service ruins his and his wife’s lives. As the years pass, each records their predicament, a duet that grows increasingly bitter and resigned. Uncommonly powerful, endlessly inventive … Part spy thriller, part murder mystery, part cerebral caper.” —Matt Rowland Hill, Literary Review