Present Books Toward The Return
| Original Title: | The Return |
| ISBN: | 0755332938 (ISBN13: 9780755332939) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Victoria Hislop
Hardcover | Pages: 432 pages Rating: 3.83 | 9505 Users | 734 Reviews
Ilustration As Books The Return
Beneath the majestic towers of the Alhambra, Granada's cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets. Sonia Cameron knows nothing of the city's shocking past; she is here to dance. But in a quiet café, a chance conversation and an intriguing collection of old photographs draw her into the extraordinary tale of Spain's devastating civil war. Seventy years earlier, the café is home to the close-knit Ramírez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country's fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the worst atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart. Captivating and deeply moving, Victoria Hislop's second novel is as inspiring as her international bestselling debut, The Island.
Itemize Appertaining To Books The Return
| Title | : | The Return |
| Author | : | Victoria Hislop |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | 1st Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 432 pages |
| Published | : | June 26th 2008 by Headline Review (first published 2008) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Cultural. Spain. Romance |
Rating Appertaining To Books The Return
Ratings: 3.83 From 9505 Users | 734 ReviewsRate Appertaining To Books The Return
It was an interesting read as I knew next to nothing about the Spanish Civil War. However, I did feel that the book was overlong and I skipped quite a few pages. Still feel her best was The Island, which was brilliant.After being blown away by "The Island" I immediately ordered "The Return" and I am not disappointed. I am now an official Victoria Hislop fan. Her novels are to be savored and enjoyed. "The Return" begins in recent times in England. Readers are introduced to a middle aged woman named Sonia. This part is very similiar to "The Island" as both heroines are having relationship issues and are both facing similiar difficult choices.. basically "stay with this jerk or leave" type choices. I found parts
The first part of this novel certainly does not prepare you for the later intensity as suddenly the story takes on a complete change of tone and direction when we are transported back to the Granada of the nineteen thirties. It is a gentle start as this first part is set mainly in modern day Granada with Sonia and Maggie. Two fans of salsa from the UK where they take regular classes, the young women spend a few days in Granada taking dance lessons as a birthday treat for one of them. While there
It's almost as if countries can have karma, like people do. While the rest of us Europeans were still in the Dark Ages, Spain was a multi-ethnic island of tolerance and excellence, safeguarding the legacy of the Greeks through Arab translations. Then along come Ferdinand and Isabella, chuck out the Jews and the Muslims in the same year as Columbus discovered America, and the upshot is a quagmire of bigotry and intolerance that is still going on in the 20th century in the form of the Spanish
This was a painful read; got a lot more than I'd asked for. The book's strength is completely in the flashback telling of Franco's rise in pre-WWII Spain. I was completely ignorant of his torturous reign and it got-to-me in it's intensely graphic and devastating familial context. Never-the-less, I highly recommend it. The dovetailing story of flamenco over two generations, and the modern British romances (wait, is this last an oxymoron?) work well, but Hislop has a clunky hand in the love arena
The Return feels as if its almost told in two parts. In the present day you meet Sonia. Shes a middle-aged woman who is having relationship issues and is facing some tough decisions when it comes to her marriage. She is visiting Spain with a friend and they decide to take some dancing classes to celebrate her friends birthday.While on her trip she meets an elderly waiter at a cafe who tells her the story of the Ramirez family and the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Pablo and Concha Ramirez run a
The first part of the book is very lovely and is about dancing. Especially, the flamenco. After that 2/3 of the book is about a more serious subject, the civil war in Spain. I hardly knew a thing about that subject, and thought this was very interesting.
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