Cry, Mother Spain

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What to expect

In the summer of 1936, Montse is fifteen years old and her country is on the brink of civil war. Her tiny village in the north east of Spain is a world away from the tensions beginning to overspill in other parts of the country, but when her brother José returns from working in a nearby town, brimming with anarchic zeal, Montse is captivated. Swept away by the fervour of the revolution, caught between love, family and honour, her sheltered life will be abruptly changed forever.

Years later, with her memory almost gone, she is telling her daughter the story of this one dazzling summer - the only one she can remember. Her daughter meanwhile has been reading the anti-Franco pamphlet, Les Grands Cimetières sous la lune by the right-wing novelist, George Bernanos. His revulsion at the Franco regime and the complicity of the Catholic Church, intertwines with Montse's memories, as her story builds to its devastating conclusion.

Powerful and deeply personal, Cry, Mother Spain unites two different experiences of one horrific conflict, making up a complex tapestry of love, faith and revolution.

(P)2016 WF Howes

Critics Review

Impressive ... an effective account of a hideous time of brutal politics and the desperate compromises many made to make life possible
The Sunday Times
The great originality of this novel ... is the blending of the universal and personal experiences of the Spanish Civil War
Figaro
An extraordinary book . . . very powerful
Irish Times
Lydie Salvayre orchestrates her story like a true maestro
BibliObs
A turbulent, magnificent novel that shines a new light on the Spanish Civil War. It resonates with the power of a manifesto for modern times
Express
Lydie Salvayre has cultivated a resounding anger... Cry, Mother Spain is the novel and the tribute of an impassioned voice
Libération
A seriously important novel ... The novel Pasolini would have written had he been the son of Spanish exiles
Time Out Barcelona
Lydie Salvayre creates a dynamic harmony in a language that elevates grit, heroism and beauty
Le Monde
Lydie Salvayre has written a novel about the Spanish Civil War unlike any other. Her approach gives her story an astonishing power and a unique perspective
ABC Cultural
A magnificent novel. A brilliantly written family saga and a mesmerising study of memory and historical reconstruction
El Mundo

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