Death of a Nationalist - Rebecca Pawel

...Tejada, a Nationalist investigating the death of another soldier in the Guardia Civil, one of the forces helping to establish the new Fascist regime in Spain.

However, the excellent storytelling has several interwoven strands, as we see two different people investigating death and seeking vengeance, and are introduced to a cast of characters on both sides of the conflict. In fact, although the publisher bills this novel as the first ...
...more pleased to report that Death of a Nationalist was the prize winner.

Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel
ISBN: 1569473048
Soho Press, New York - hardback in 2003, trade paperback February 2004
Trade paperback cover price US $12.00 – a bargain in the UK at about £6.66 at the current exchange rate – www.Amazon.co.uk is currently selling it for £5.92. It may be on sale in some bookshops at a slightly higher ... more

This is a question facing the characters in this absorbing historical mystery set in Madrid in 1939 in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

The story opens with a child dropping her precious school exercise book and two murders. Pawel’s skilful use of little everyday details and tragic coincidences was one of the things which really worked for me about this historical novel, written by a 25 year old Brooklyn school teacher.

In Madrid in 1939, the Spanish Civil War has ended with a victory for the Nationalists led by General Franco (with support from conservative forces in Spain including the military and the Catholic Church, and with aid from Mussolini’s fascist Italy and Hitler’s Germany). The families of those who fought on the losing side face poverty and starvation, as the defeated Republic’s currency has no value to buy food or anything else. Those with Republican sympathies had better hide them if they want to hold on to jobs or their lives. This is a frightening and very sad period for many in Spain.

I was a bit worried when I read the back cover of this book at being asked to feel sympathy for Tejada, a Nationalist investigating the death of another soldier in the Guardia Civil, one of the forces helping to establish the new Fascist regime in Spain.

However, the excellent storytelling has several interwoven strands, as we see two different people investigating death and seeking vengeance, and are introduced to a cast of characters on both sides of the conflict. In fact, although the publisher bills this novel as the first in a series with Tejada as the hero, I did not feel that was the author’s intention in writing the novel. Ms Pawel has confirmed this in recent email correspondence (I wrote to her via a link from her website).

When Tejada and his army colleagues find Aleja’s aunt Viviana holding the exercise book near the dead body of a soldier, they assume she has killed him and shoot her too. But while others think no more about killing a “Red”, the book puzzles Tejada and something nags at him – it does not quite add up. When he finds out more he realises she was not the killer and looks for the person who really did it.

Meanwhile, the dead woman’s lover, Gonzalo, is living a hidden life with her sister’s family. He fought on the losing side and is now a fugitive with little hope of any kind of future, as he is a definite target for the Guardia Civil. He is out to avenge Viviana’s death.

One of my favourite characters in the book is Aleja’s teacher, Elena, also facing rather bleak prospects because of her political views and the fact that she comes from a Republican family. Tejada interviews her because he finds the notebook, and she loses her job as a result of the investigation. She is a character for the rest of the book and I believe she reappears in the next one.

The contradictions in the characters are not skimped on – Tejada continues to do some very unlikeable things. These characters and their situation are not going to change radically during the novel any more than the history of Spain did. However, the mystery and suspense in the storytelling are compelling – viewpoints shift between the different characters – and while I cannot judge completely the historical accuracy, I like the way that Pawel captured and took me completely into the emotional responses of her characters to events.

The publisher, Soho Press, is a New York publisher which specialises in publishing crime novels set in other countries and cultures, both those written in English and ones translated from other languages.

Many historical novels swamp the story and characters in a mass of detail to demonstrate the author’s research and to remind the reader that they are reading a book set in a different time of place. One of the most impressive things about this book is the sophisticated characterisation. Pawel engages the reader in imagining what people might have felt in this very traumatic and chaotic time.

I am looking forward very much to Pawel's second book, Law of Return, published in February 2004 (hardback) which is a continuation of the story told in this one. She is now writing a third.

Note:

I originally reviewed this book for a website called www.reviewingtheevidence.com just before it was published last year, and this is a revised form of what I posted on that site. I was delighted to hear recently that the book has been shortlisted for an Edgar award (one of the US’s most prestigious crime fiction awards), in the Best First Novel by an American author category.

30 April: I'm even more pleased to report that Death of a Nationalist was the prize winner.

Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel
ISBN: 1569473048
Soho Press, New York - hardback in 2003, trade paperback February 2004
Trade paperback cover price US $12.00 – a bargain in the UK at about £6.66 at the current exchange rate – www.Amazon.co.uk is currently selling it for £5.92. It may be on sale in some bookshops at a slightly higher price, and although it is from an American publisher, many public libraries do order from Soho. If your library does not own this already, now might be a good time to ask them to order it, as the new financial year for local councils starts in April.

Author website: www.rebeccapawel.com
 

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