This book is set just after WWII, in 1957 Madrid, Spain. A Texas oil giant, Mr. Matheson and his family have come to Spain to procure a deal with the Spanish government. Daniel Matheson, the oil tycoon's son has a penchant for photography and hopes to use his time in Spain to capture some great shots to help his application for a prestigious photography award to finance his education; without it, he will have to work in the oil industry with his father. While in Spain and staying at the Castellana Hilton, Daniel meets a full cast of characters and even falls in love. While exploring Madrid and taking photos, Daniel learns much about cultures, life after war, and what hardship truly means, as well as some of the dark and deep secrets Spain is keeping.
Something that I am coming to love about historical fiction is the small and large things about history that I am learning. Formal education can only go so far; the in-depth research and writing that historical fiction writers go through and write about for such specific books such as this one really take the stage and deliver a much more intimate and intense glimpse of history. That is so special, as it gives readers a new way to look at things and think about the world. I love that so much. In the past month, I have learned about so many aspects of the World Wars that I never realized where things. In the case of this book, I had no idea about the disappeared children after WWII and little to nothing about Spain after the wars. In my narrow perspective, I didn't realize how long Franco was in power, what that meant for the Spanish people, and how far the nation has come since then. Franco died in 1975, realistically that isn't that long ago in the grand scheme. What is even more striking for me is that the lost children or stolen baby scandal drama are still ongoing today. In 2018, a court case about a stolen baby was in the news. While this book is based on a historical time period and event, it is still poignant today.
I enjoyed the writing in this book and how short the chapters are. I hate when chapters drone on and on, but in this book, a chapter is never more than a few pages long, some are just one page. It really gives the illusion of reading this book quickly and it makes the pacing and time within it go by very quickly. Where there isn't a lot of action per se, the writing in this book makes it seem like there is. I also was pleased that nearly every chapter has a specific point of view and it changes between about 90% of them. I liked that there are so many voices and viewpoints represented, also giving the illusion of more action than there is and movement. It also helps you to get to know the characters more and get into their minds. It made this book very faceted and dynamic, which helped to keep me engaged.
Overall, I really loved this book and the stories within it. There is a pretty large plot twist at the end related to the Lost Children of Spain and I loved how nice it ended. The love story in this book is a good one and how that is tied up also made me very happy. Perhaps a con of this book is how neatly everything seems to be tied up at the end and how there are happy endings all around, but I can ignore that for this book and focus on the stories it told. This would be a great book for young adults to read as a supplement to a history course because it does illuminate Spanish life under Franco and what that meant for Spanish people and foreigners at the time. It also highlights a lesser-known occurrence of the Franco dictatorship and the Lost Children of Spain. These are things that I highly doubt are being taught in schools today.
I would highly recommend this book and I look forward to seeing what else Sepetys has written and maybe digging deeper into historical fiction literature as a whole.
Something that I am coming to love about historical fiction is the small and large things about history that I am learning. Formal education can only go so far; the in-depth research and writing that historical fiction writers go through and write about for such specific books such as this one really take the stage and deliver a much more intimate and intense glimpse of history. That is so special, as it gives readers a new way to look at things and think about the world. I love that so much. In the past month, I have learned about so many aspects of the World Wars that I never realized where things. In the case of this book, I had no idea about the disappeared children after WWII and little to nothing about Spain after the wars. In my narrow perspective, I didn't realize how long Franco was in power, what that meant for the Spanish people, and how far the nation has come since then. Franco died in 1975, realistically that isn't that long ago in the grand scheme. What is even more striking for me is that the lost children or stolen baby scandal drama are still ongoing today. In 2018, a court case about a stolen baby was in the news. While this book is based on a historical time period and event, it is still poignant today.
I enjoyed the writing in this book and how short the chapters are. I hate when chapters drone on and on, but in this book, a chapter is never more than a few pages long, some are just one page. It really gives the illusion of reading this book quickly and it makes the pacing and time within it go by very quickly. Where there isn't a lot of action per se, the writing in this book makes it seem like there is. I also was pleased that nearly every chapter has a specific point of view and it changes between about 90% of them. I liked that there are so many voices and viewpoints represented, also giving the illusion of more action than there is and movement. It also helps you to get to know the characters more and get into their minds. It made this book very faceted and dynamic, which helped to keep me engaged.
Overall, I really loved this book and the stories within it. There is a pretty large plot twist at the end related to the Lost Children of Spain and I loved how nice it ended. The love story in this book is a good one and how that is tied up also made me very happy. Perhaps a con of this book is how neatly everything seems to be tied up at the end and how there are happy endings all around, but I can ignore that for this book and focus on the stories it told. This would be a great book for young adults to read as a supplement to a history course because it does illuminate Spanish life under Franco and what that meant for Spanish people and foreigners at the time. It also highlights a lesser-known occurrence of the Franco dictatorship and the Lost Children of Spain. These are things that I highly doubt are being taught in schools today.
I would highly recommend this book and I look forward to seeing what else Sepetys has written and maybe digging deeper into historical fiction literature as a whole.