I was - of course - aware of the Spanish Civil War, but only in a vague sort of way. What I didn't know is that the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda commissioned ships to take Spanish refugees to re-settle and start new lives in Chile.
A Long Petal of the Sea starts with a family, who take in a musically talented girl, Roser to live with them. Roser grows up with them and falls in love with one of the sons, Guillem. The other son, Victor, is training to be a doctor.
When war breaks out, the brothers are called to different occupations - Guillem a soldier, and Victor a doctor.
However, when Guillem dies in the Spanish Civil War, Roser, Victor and Victor's mother Carme, begin a perilous journey to France to try and escape Franco's brutal regine.
Carme vanishes, and Roser and Victor end up in a concentration camp. Roser has Guillem's baby, and Victor is called away to work as a doctor once more.
He finds out about Neruda's plan, marries Roser in order to secure them a place on one of the ships, and all three sail away to a new life in Chile.
I have to admit - I wanted to like this one more than I actually did. The history is fascinating, and heart-breaking at times, as Roser and Victor find themselves subject to yet another fascist regime under Pinochet in Chile, but there's a remove with the story, almost.
Roser and Victor are the centre of the book, and every other character feels almost ... shadowy. Even their son Marcel in a way, and I wonder if that's why A Long Petal of the Sea didn't quite work for m.
Still. An interesting read about some truly momentous - and horrific - periods in our history.
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