Internationally celebrated author Almudena Grandes has produced her finest work yet with The Wind from the East, a blend of two narratives set alternately in Madrid and an Andalusian town by the sea. Sara Gómes Morales,given up at birth to be raised by her wealthy godmother,is betrayed on her sixteenth birthday when she is forced to leave her godmother’s home and return to live in poverty with her estranged parents. Tortured by resentment and the loneliness of belonging to neither place,she finds solace as an adult only when she moves to the coastal town.Parallel to Sara’s story is the story of Juan and Damian Olmedo, brothers in love with the same woman. One night an argument incited by jealousy leads Damian to stumble down a flight ofstairs and fall to his death. Suspected ofmurdering his younger brother, Juan flees to the same village that served as Sara’s escape. Deftly engaging, The Wind from the Eastis an epic tale of love and redemption. Almudena Grandes' writing has been compared to the work of classic and contemporary voices such as the Brontë sisters and Isabel Allende.]]> Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:16:05 +0200 https://archive.bookfrom.net/almudena-grandes/90925-the_frozen_heart.html https://archive.bookfrom.net/almudena-grandes/90925-the_frozen_heart.html

In the small town of Torrelodones on the outskirts of Madrid, a funeral is taking place. Julio Carrión González, a man of tremendous wealth and influence in Madrid, has come home to be buried. But as the family stand by the graveside, his son Alvaro notices the arrival of a stranger -- a young and attractive woman. No one appears to know who she is, or why she is there. Alvaro's questions only deepen when the family inherits an enormous amount of money that is a surprise even to them. In his father's study Alvaro discovers an old folder with letters sent to his father in Russia between 1941 and 1943, faded photos of people he never met and a locked grey metal box. The woman is Raquel Fernández Perea, the daughter of Spaniards who fled during the Civil War. One episode in her past has marked her for ever -- the only time she saw her grandfather cry. Her fate, and that of the family, now hangs on the secrets of Julio's past. From the provincial heartlands of Spain to the battlefields of Russia, THE FROZEN HEART is a mesmerising journey through a war that tore families apart, pitted fathers against sons, brothers against brothers, wives against husbands. Against such a past, where do faith and loyalty lie?]]> Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:16:05 +0200