Novel set in Andalucia – Shadows over the Spanish Sun

Head to Andalucia in wartime

A story of heartbreak, family and wartime honour. This novel takes on a story in dual time line with flashbacks. Mia is back in Andalucia to take care of her grandfather, when she starts to find out about his past. His story as well as history.

BookTrail Boarding Pass: Shadows Over the Spanish Sun

Andalucia is the star of the show in many ways. We see it in the present day with the sun shining on the Alhambra palace and Sierra mountains. Then , we travel back in time and find that war also touched this place and left scars on the landscape as well as its people that we can’t see at first. The region is stunning  – I’ve been lucky enough to live there for a short time – and the majestic sense of the landscape and history comes across very strongly throughout the novel.

The subject of the Spanish civil war is something that has been intertwined into many fiction novels but this time it felt more personal and poignant. In fact this is only a small part of the novel as the story concentrates on the people, the grandfather’s desire to survive and care for his family and how war divided those left behind. The scars on the rural community were all too real and long lasting and this is what the novel examines carefully and really poignantly.

What I particularly liked about this depiction of war and the stories within, was the fact that the grandfather loved horses and that their role in the war comes across loud and clear. War was about taking sides, avoiding sides, escaping sides and protecting your loved ones despite the side they were on. This is the real side, the human side of war when the politics is miles away in government corridors. I felt the author really got under the skin of these people and captured their sense of loss, despair and fear all too well. The resulting feeling of hope and survival was also well portrayed leaving me a very emotionally drained yet satisfied reader.