The Frozen Heart
By Almudena Grandes
From the Spanish Maggie O'Farrell, a sweeping epic about the Spanish Civil War.
'A classy blockbuster - a layered saga of family life, rivalry and redemption' GUARDIAN
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?
It is well-written, with complex characters tormented by their story and an unusual style, jumping between time frames with no warning! It is quite a long book and the story moves slowly in places, however the core theme is well developed and written, keeping the reader in suspense until the final pages."
