The Return - Victoria Hislop

Much to the annoyance of her domineering husband, Sonia accepts her best friend’s invitation to join her on a salsa dance course in Granada. Before she leaves, Sonia pays a visit to her elderly father who shows a keen interest in her dancing, telling her about how he and her late mother were keen amateur dancers in their younger days. He shows her some photographs but quietly puts of them to the side without showing Sonia. When her father is out ...
...she never wanted to hear the place mentioned again.

While in Granada, Sonia gets talking to the elderly owner of a bar, El Barril, a place she had been drawn to because she felt it looked familiar. Inside on the walls are vintage posters advertising bullfights and flamenco. The bar owner explains that toreador and the flamenco dancer were the son and daughter of the family that used to own the bar. Sonia is intrigued and a few weeks ... more

Much to the annoyance of her domineering husband, Sonia accepts her best friend’s invitation to join her on a salsa dance course in Granada. Before she leaves, Sonia pays a visit to her elderly father who shows a keen interest in her dancing, telling her about how he and her late mother were keen amateur dancers in their younger days. He shows her some photographs but quietly puts of them to the side without showing Sonia. When her father is out of the room she sneaks a look at the photograph which shows a group of children, one of them obviously her mother; although she doesn’t know exactly where it was taken, she suspects it was in Spain where her mother grew up. Sonia doesn’t know much about her life in Spain, she never wanted to talk about it and one on occasion when Sonia came home asking if they could go on holiday to Spain like her school-friends, her mother screamed that she never wanted to hear the place mentioned again.

While in Granada, Sonia gets talking to the elderly owner of a bar, El Barril, a place she had been drawn to because she felt it looked familiar. Inside on the walls are vintage posters advertising bullfights and flamenco. The bar owner explains that toreador and the flamenco dancer were the son and daughter of the family that used to own the bar. Sonia is intrigued and a few weeks after she returns to England the opportunity to go back to Granada presents itself and she seizes it. There she meets up with Miguel, the bar owner, again and he tells her the story of the Ramirez family and what happened to them during the Spanish Civil War.

“The Return” is the second novel by author of the best seller “The Island”, Victoria Hislop and it follows a similar plot: a young woman visits her mother’s homeland and learns about the family history. In this case, the setting is Spain, not Greece, but other than this the idea is pretty similar. In “The Island” the main character disappears to contemplate her stuck-in-a-rut relationship and in “The Return” Sonia is married to a man who wants Sonia to join the twin set and pearls brigade like the wives of his friends. Sonia is beginning to wonder whether she and James ever really had anything in common.

Both stories feature events in the not too distant past; here it’s the Spanish Civil War. I must admit to not knowing a great deal about the conflict, naturally my school history lessons focused more on World War Two. I knew a little, however, and the excellent historical detail of this novel filled in the gaps. At times, though, the detail came thick and fast and would have been better absorbed if done more gradually. Although my knowledge of Spanish geography is good, it might have been a good idea to have a map of Spain at the front of the book to make the accounts of the journeys people undertook by foot more meaningful and to get a better idea of how much of the country was occupied by the fascists at key points.

Several sections of writing stood out in particular. One of Mercedes’s passion for flamenco dancing; the descriptions of her performances in crowded bars are magnificent and, when, after curfew is imposed in occupied Granada, her older brother Antonio catches her sneaking in late at night after a performance, she utters a simple, yet anguished “I can’t give it up” which sums up her dedication and her love of flamenco.

The bullfighting career of Ignacio also stands out. Hislop captures perfectly the drama and the horror of the spectacle and paints a portrait of a cocky young man, drunk on the adoration of the aficionados. The descriptions of his sparkling outfits catching the sun as he taunted the bull contrasted wonderfully with the agonies of his mother as she sat watching her son dice with death.

Hislop captures the misery of war just as well; the bleeding feet of the refugees fleeing bombed cities, the hunger of hollow-cheeked children and the anguish of mothers who sons have been arrested in the middle of the night.

The characters are magnificent, not just for the individual portraits but also for the brilliant skill Hislop has for writing about families. I loved Concha, the Ramirez family matriarch who tried to stop her sons tearing the family apart because of their opposing political beliefs. Her strength and dignity in the face of great sorrow were quite impressive. The contemporary characters are adequately portrayed but rather pale in comparison to this close knit Spanish family, still this doesn’t matter too much as its the Civil War story that matters.

Those expecting a light-hearted novel about a pair of women who go on holiday to learn to dance will be sorely disappointed. That is merely a means to an end – to place Sonia in Spain to learn about the past. This is a family saga, one rooted in horrific events and although it has been touted as a beach read this is no fluffy chick lit. The placing of the contemporary story around the history of the Ramirez family is the book’s major failing. There is no need for it. It worked well enough with “The Island” but it wasn’t needed there either. The main event in both books is the history of a family and both are really excellent stories that could stand alone. In the case of “The Return” the idea of a woman going to Granada to have salsa lessons then stumbling upon her family history is more than a little far-fetched. At least in “The Island” the main character goes deliberately in search of her family history which makes it more credible.

I’m not knocking “The Return” at all; I’m merely suggesting that beginning the book with a contemporary character who learns about her family is a case of dumbing down. The story of the Ramirez family is engaging and compelling and brilliantly told. It’s almost as if historical fiction is a dirty word; perhaps it’s an attempt to broaden the readership. Whatever it is, it’s not necessary; intelligent readers will appreciate this book for what it is and don’t need to be drawn into it by a nursemaid.

“The Return” is an exceptional novel that educates and entertains in equal measure. If you can get past the somewhat lacklustre modern day introduction this really is a very worthy read.
592 pages
 

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