By Lidia Falcón
Translated by Jessica Knauss, PhD
Publisher: Loose Leaves Publishing
This is a novel written from a political and feminist approach and the author does a good job of weaving in the characters and plot to get her point across. The book captures the timeframe from 1973 to 1984 during the final years of the Franco Regime and the Post Franco era. It discusses in detail some of the experiences that occurred by a Radical left wing party known as the PC-ML (A Marxist Leninist faction) intent on waging an armed revolution.
The authors goal was to provide some insight into the turmoil that occurred during this time in Spain as people fought against the Franco Regime and she uses female characters to mostly tell the story. She takes the reader into the head of Elisa Vilaró who is the main character and sets her plot accordingly. It is about Elisa (having left the party) going back to her past via a visit from her ex-husband Arnau who asks her to help him in exonerating a former comrade. Elisa is still in love with her ex-husband and he knows this. The love of her ex-husband and his request brings on an internal struggle for Elisa and the story becomes even more interesting.
The author captures the essence of Elisa’s internal struggle and she gets into the character’s head using great skill. In this realm, she takes the reader back to when Elisa was heavily involved within the party and describes the struggles that took place. This includes the torture that occurred during her time in prison. It is very vivid in details and definitely an adult book.
However, because the book is written with many flashbacks it is sometimes difficult to tell where a character is speaking and where another character begins. This sometimes makes the story a little hard to follow. Not sure if this is the translation or the actual author’s intent, but the story is very good in that you will keep reading it to the very end and eventually it does come together.
The author excellently captures the internal head discussions of someone who is not sure what to do in this situation and she takes the reader through the many scenarios and emotions that can reveal themselves. In addition, the author gives the reader some insight into the sexual imbalance of Spanish culture (the church, the government, the population, etc.) and the internal and external struggles that women face from these type of patriarchal societies.
What the author does splendidly, is provide the reader with some great insight into the struggle by a people during the Franco government, and also takes a look at a slice of life from a female perspective. A job well done! If the book had had less flashbacks, I believe it would have made the book even more powerful.
The author is a good writer and the story is definitely an interesting one. I would definitely pick up another one of this author’s book.
Source: Book was provided by author for review. It was reviewed by Corina Martinez Chaudhry.
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