by Shaun Herron
First published 1975
Dr. Dion Ugalde treats patients in rural Navarra, Spain, where he has hidden since the Civil War ended. His wife Maria comes from revolutionary blood, but they both want nothing more than quiet survival on society's margins. The 1967 amnesty cannot protect Ugalde from charges of blood crimes if authorities discover his past. Yet he has grown close to Colonel Basa, the local Civil Guard commander who could destroy him. Both men have grown weary of old battles. Their unlikely friendship creates a dangerous irony. The Civil Guard begins watching Ugalde's family more closely. His son Mauro studies medicine in the city, but the young man has secretly joined Basque separatist terrorists. Ugalde knows nothing of his son's activities. The doctor's careful anonymity crumbles as political forces close in from multiple directions. Past and present collide in a Spain still haunted by civil war divisions.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, political-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-friends, family-drama
Setting: Navarra, Spain
Period: 1967, Civil War
Mass Market Paperback · Signet
Content warnings: violence, war