The Return by Victoria HislopMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Best friends Sonia Cameron and Maggie, two English women, take up Salsa dancing one night a week. Sonia has always been passionate about dancing. She took up dancing to get away from her stale and unhappy marriage to James. Maggie invites Sonia to Spain to celebrate her 30’s birthday. The two friends venture to Granada where they enrol in a Flamenco Dance school. Upon visiting one of Granada’s cafes, Sonia stumbles upon Manuel, an elderly owner of the café. Sparked by the pictures on the café walls and intriqued upon learning of her dead mother's Spanish history, Sonia asks the old man about Spain’s painful past, particularly about the Ramirez family and about the Spanish Civil War.
This is a story within a story. The author captures, in detail, the ramifications of the Spanish Civil War and weaves a tale of a chattered Spain fresh from the horrors of The Second Republic where brothers fought against brothers and the country fell into the tyrannical hands of the Fascist, Francisco Franco.
I bought this book because I, like Sonia, am interested in learning about the truth behind the Spanish Civil War and the Spain de mi abuelo (my grandfather) and his family...the War fought during 1931 and 1936 which claimed the lives of over 500,000 Spaniards. I love the vivid description the author gave of Granada and Andalucía. It was as if I were there.
