Overview

An hypnotic read from a master storyteller about a secret pact between two women during the Spanish Civil War. On the cusp of the Spanish Civil War in a coastal village in the Basque country, three men stop off at Extarri's bar on their way to a wedding. There, a bizarre and seemingly incidental event marks the beginning of a powerful story about a bond and a secret that endures even in death. Abandoned by her parents shortly after the outbreak of war, sixteen-year-old Maria Antonia Extarri is left at the mercy of the soldiers. Meanwhile, Isabel enjoys a blissful honeymoon, but just a few months later her valiant Captain is shot as a traitor. Both Maria and Isabel suddenly find themselves violently altered, alone, and pregnant. A crippled young doctor is the only witness to the mysterious agreement silently formed between the two desperate women.

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9780099551850

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Reviews

War, love and secrecy determine the lives of De Lope's characters. There are brutal scenes, moving passages and pages that are pure poetry. An unforgettable novel -- Isabel Allende Amid the current outpouring of Civil War fiction in Spain, the books of Manuel de Lope... should be top of interested readers' lists Independent Reading The Wrong Blood is like surrendering to a hypnotist... The style is a marvel of precision and patience, resulting in an atmosphere so saturated with suspense that I found myself wanting to read more slowly, even as I breathlessly anticipated the next paragraph. I've seldom read a more sublime and disturbing novel -- Valerie Martin The prosody of the original language has been retained in John Cullen's translation... mesmerizing... shattering... exquisite... A book that stays with you, inviting you to read it again Historical Novels Review elegantly poetic...the dream-like effect he achieves is immersive and moving Manuel de Lope

War, love and secrecy determine the lives of De Lope's characters. There are brutal scenes, moving passages and pages that are pure poetry. An unforgettable novel. -- Isabel Allende Reading The Wrong Blood is like surrendering to a hypnotist. Manuel DeLope's subject is the fluidity of time and the pitilessness of war as played out in the lives of two women who quietly conspire to commit a victimless crime. The style is a marvel of precision and patience, resulting in an atmosphere so saturated with suspense that I found myself wanting to read more slowly, even as I breathlessly anticipated the next paragraph. I've seldom read a more sublime and disturbing novel. -- Valerie Martin Amid the current outpouring of Civil War fiction in Spain, the books of Manuel de Lope...should be top of interested readers' lists. -- Review Independent The prosody of the original language has been retained in John Cullen's translation, which captures the mesmerizing quality of the author's descriptions of nature, the bluntness with which he recounts brute violence, and the shattering pain of grief. All this, and the exquisite exploration of memory and old age make this a book that stays with you, inviting you to read it again Historical Novels Review elegantly poetic...the dream-like effect he achieves is immersive and moving Manuel de Lope

Author Information

Manuel de Lope was born in Burgos, Spain, in 1949, and is the prizewinning author of over a dozen novels. He has lived in Switzerland and England, and is now based in Madrid. La sangre ajena (The Wrong Blood) is the first of his books to be translated into English.

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