A Long Petal of the Sea

Finished April 12

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor

This novel is a fantastic read, with the main events part of real history. Beginning in 1936 in Spain, we are placed amidst the Spanish Civil War., The war is drawing to a close and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians are fleeing to France. One of them is Roser, a young pregnant woman who lover, a soldier, is missing. His brother, Victor Dalmau, a medical school student who is serving as a medic, has arranged for a friend to bring Roser and his mother out of Spain, choosing a Red Cross nurse as a contact point for them to connect through in France. With so many people fleeing it is chaotic and Victor's mother is worried about slowing them down, and Roser and the friend find their way over the mountains into France before becoming separated. 

France is overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of people fleeing Spain, and there are limited opportunities for the many refugees. Roser finds a place to work and live, but it is not a permanent situation. In order to take advantage of getting away from Europe, Victor and Roser marry. By doing so, they gain a spot on the Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. In Chile the small family starts over. Roser begins her career as a pianist supplemented by giving lessons, and Victor re-enrols in medical school while running a Catalan-style pub with a fellow Spanish exile. They always hope to return to Spain one day when Franco is no longer the leader, but the hope grows fainter over time. 

They make good lives there, with Victor working as a respected cardiologist while still showing his penchant for helping those in need, and Roser working with a Venezuelan man to create an international orchestra respected for their use of traditional South American instruments. Roser's child is raised within their strong household love, and their growing love for each other. 

Then they end up living through another upheaval as Chile is taken over by the fascist Pinochet. They realize that Chile is now their home, a land they truly love and feel tied to, and that the love they have built is strong and their son has grown up with their shared values and feeling a true Chilean. 

The real history of the characters' difficult episodes is told well, even to the presence of the author's father in the story. But it is their strong character and how they live their values that is at the centre of the novel and so well told.

I loved the inclusion of Neruda's work at the beginning of every chapter as it really spoke to the time and place. 

A shining example of Allende's writing. 

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning

Finished April 23

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee

This memoir covers from the summer of 1934 to late 1936. 19-year-old Laurie has never left the area of England he grew up in before this time, but he sets off on foot from his home in the Cotswolds heading for London. He has never seen the sea and so decides to go via Southampton, adding about 100 miles to his journey. As he walks he either eats what he has brought with him, what he finds on the land, or what he is given by those he passes by or stays with. He is not the only one on the road, and he at one point he travels with a long-term wanderer named Alf. I have to say that this reminded me of a homeless man I was once acquainted with, also named Alf, and made a connection to this fleeting glimpse of a person. Laurie finds a room in London and a job working construction and trying out various entertainments in the city. After nearly a year, when the building project he is one comes to an end, he realizes that he is free to go anywhere and he buys a one way ticket on a ship to Viga, Spain.

In Spain, he resumes his walking, stopping and playing his fiddle in the streets for what money people are willing to give. He has rudimentary Spanish, and lots of curiosity and he meets a wide variety of people from other travellers to locals from all walks of life. The heat he encounters is one thing he is unprepared for, and he finds himself suffering badly at times. 

We follow him as he goes to Valladolid, on to Madrid, and then to Toledo, stopping for varying lengths of time depending on how people react to his music and where he can afford to stay. He continues south, crossing the mountains into Andalusia stopping in Seville and then going down to the coast. After a brief visit to Gibraltar, he goes on along the coast, ending up in the town of Castillo. He had planned to go further, but at this point the Spanish Civil War breaks out in the area, and he finds himself going to ground there with the townspeople. Soon after, a British warship stops and offers a way out for him and the British writer who has been living there.

There is an epilogue that comes six months later when he finds himself once again at the Spanish border, looking to help those he grew to care about in his journey.

This is a very personal story, that gives a real sense of the world of the time, and the places and people that he met along the way. He wrote it more than three decades after the events contained in the book, with an eye to the bigger picture he didn't see at the time, so one gets a sense of the looming unrest, but it doesn't overtake his personal story. 

An enlightening read with a real sense of place and time. The language is beautifully descriptive. 

Midnight in Europe

Finished June 23
Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst

This novel is set in the months just before World War II. Cristián Ferrar is a Spaniard living in France. He came as a young boy with his family, and has done well for himself, becoming a senior partner with the international law firm Coudert Frères. The increasing aggression of Germany and the direction of the civil war in Spain, both have Ferrar worried.
When he is approached by the Spanish government to assist them in obtaining arms, he agrees, but makes sure his firm is aware of his involvement in this agreeing to do it outside of his official work. This agreement leads him into many interesting relationships, and calls on his quick thinking and air of authority to take command of difficult situations. This involvement may also increase the danger to himself and his family and he must think about making plans for them should Europe become involved in a larger war.
Ferrar also realizes that a irregular relationship he has developed with an American woman may mean more to him that he realized, and his love life is something that he has to think more seriously about than he has until now.
This is a story of spies, danger, and intrigue that will have you turning the pages to find out what Ferrar gets into next. A great read.

Lost Cause

Finished February 19
Lost Cause by John Wilson

This is the second book in Seven: The Series, which started with the novel Between Heaven and Earth by Eric Walters. This is the story of Steve, the younger twin brother of DJ, from the first book in the series. Steve didn't get on with his grandfather as well as his brother or some of his cousins, but he finds himself intrigued by the task that his grandfather has set for him, and pleased that it offers him the chance to go to Europe, which he had wanted to do this summer but wasn't sure he could raise the money to do. The task is framed as a bit of a mystery, and it takes Steve to Spain to uncover his grandfather's past. He discovers his grandfather fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War as part of the International Brigades. He also discovered his grandfather's early romance, and together with a young Spanish girl, he uses the material he discovers to trace his grandfather's footsteps to discover a story that isn't as straightforward as he first thought it might be. 

This gives us some history in the context of the Spanish Civil War, and the geography of the area around Barcelona where Steve's grandfather fought. Like DJ, we see Steve develop as a character as he ventures out on his own for the first time. 

Another enjoyable read.

The Prisoner of Heaven

Finished August 17
Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, read by Peter Kenny

We are transported back to Barcelona, moving between 1957 and 1939/40, this novel continues the story begun in the novel The Shadow of the Wind (read before I began blogging), and also brings characters from the novel The Angels Game (haven't read yet). Once again, as in The Shadow of the Wind, we have the main character Daniel Sempere telling us the story. Daniel is married to Bea now and has a young son. His friend Fermin Romero de Torres also plays a large role here, telling us of the events from the 1939/40 period, when Daniel was a small child and Fermin suffered a period of imprisonment. Fermin's difficult, almost fantastic, story includes that of a fellow prisoner, the writer David Martin, a friend of Daniel's mother Isabella. We learn part of Isabella's story here as well.
The past is brought forward by a strange visitor to the bookstore, who has Daniel conveying a message to Fermin, who opens up about his past and the connection to Daniel's family. This is a story of Spain under Franco, a story of friendship, jealousy and trust. Daniel's story moves forward, leaving us looking towards more story at the end, and yet developing his character and his relationship with his wife. We see how the past never truly lets go, influencing our lives and our relationships. I look forward to Daniel's further adventures in future novels.

Canadian Fiction

Finished October 30
Underground by June Hutton
This is a book I asked for and got for my birthday this year and finally got around to reading. I'm sorry I waited as I really enjoyed it.
It tells the story of Albert Fraser, who enlists as a soldier in World War I at the age of sixteen, is injured and returns to an unhappy home in B.C. He lives a perambulatory life, working a variety of working class jobs until the Depression makes him jobless and homeless. After being taken in by a couple in the north, he decides to help in Spain and volunteers for the Spanish Civil War. Inspired by the sight of Picasso's Guernica, he moves toward a future life.
We really see Albert's worries and fears and how he deals with them. This is a young man, who spent a long time looking for his place in the world, trying different lives and finding that they didn't suit him, until finally finding a life for himself.

Foreign Audiobook

Finished October 27
The Creator's Map by Emilio Calderón, read by Tony Chiroldes
I just finished listening to this entrancing novel in the car today. It is set in Rome beginning in 1937 and taking us through the Second World War. As it begins, a group of Spaniards have banded together to wait out the Spanish Civil War. The narrator, José María has remained neutral to the war. With no family remaining, he concentrates on his new career as an architect. It is only when the beautiful young Spaniard Montse involves him in her intrigues that he becomes involved in things. The two end up spying on local Nazis and become involved in a plot to collect mystic artifacts through their relationship to a young Italian prince. The prime artifact that is sought is the title of this novel, the creator's map, supposedly drawn by God.
As José tells his story you see how his emotions embroil him and ultimately make his decisions for him.
The reader of this audiobook makes the words flow and come to life. Rome exists in the listening.