Manuel Álvarez-Xagó was born in Avilés (Asturias) in 1978. He graduated in Law from the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Bilingual in Spanish and English, as a child he began to spend time in Ireland and later in the United States. He loves animals, nature, the sea and, of course, books. La sonrisa del vencido [The Smile of the Vanquished] was his debut as an author, followed by El sommelier de almas [The Soul Sommelier]. The Impossible Path is his third novel.