The Witch of Napoli (Michael Schmicker)

The Witch of Napoli

Michael Schmicker

In the year 1899, Tommasso is a photographer that is working for his uncle, earning very little money. He decides to introduce himself to the editor of the local newspaper and when he gets the job, his first assignment is to followed Alesandra Poverelli.

Alessandra Poverelli is a mentalist that appears to have the power to move things with her mind and to talk with the dead. One day, Tommasso gets the picture of Alessandra making a table float and both their lives change forever.

Camillo Lombardi, a psychiatrist, decides to investigate Alessandra and when he becomes a witness of the supernatural that surrounds her, he plans to make a tour around Europe showing and analysing Alessandra.

However, Nigel Huxley, an English supernatural detective, believes Alessandra is a fraud. Determined to unfold her tricks, he would follow the tour trying to find theright situation to expose her.

A novel full of twists and interesting characters, the reader becomes engulfed by the fight between beliefs and ideas, rationality and superstition, the idea that behind every magic trick  truth is waiting for us.

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La respiración violenta del mundo (Ángela Pradelli)

La respiración violenta del mundo

Ángela Pradelli

Lo único que Florencia sueña es la voz de una nena gritando Emilia.

Emilia es hija de Adriana y Ernesto, dos miembros de Montoneros. Perseguidos por los militares que tomaron el poder en 1976 en Argentina, deciden separarse para mantenerse a salvo.

Adriana alquila una casita en Burzacco y, junto a Emilia, su hija de 6 años, pasan los días llenos de silencios dibujando, la pasión de Emilia. Solo visitan a la abuela Lina, madre de Ernesto, en La Plata. Un día Lina le compra a Emilia unos zapatitos verdes, que ella atesora con todo su corazón.

Una noche los militares atacan la casa y se llevan a Adriana, embarazada, y abandonan a Emilia. Pronto, una llamada telefónica avisa a Lina de lo sucedido. Le aclaran que Emilia fue dejada en la casa, que "debe estar cerca".

La desesperada búsqueda comienza, y como cientos de abuelas en esos tiempos, no parará

hasta Lina encuentre a Emilia.

Escrita como una crónica, el estilo es áspero y sin sentimentalismo. Busca contar la brutal represión del estado hacia los movimientos de izquierda, sin importarle llevarse a mujeres embarazadas y a niños y bebés.

Esencial relato para conocer lo que miles de jóvenes vivieron en esos días, muriendo por sus ideales de lucha por los pobres y desamparados.

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La Musa (Jessie Burton)

La Musa

Jessie Burton

La historia pasa en dos tiempos diferentes y en dos países distintos. En Londres en el año 1967, Odelle, una joven de Trinidad que lucha contra la discriminación por el color de su piel, consigue el trabajo de sus sueños cuando es contratada como mecanógrafa en ele Instituto de Arte Skelton. Quién la contrata es una misteriosa mujer llamada Marjorie Quick. A pesar que Odelle se gana su confianza pronto, cuando su amigo Lawrie le muestra una pintura que su madre mantuvo por años en el living de su casa, pareciera que un joven promesa desaparecido vuelve al ruedo, con millones de libras en juego. Sin embargo, no todo es como parece.

La segunda narración sucede en España en el año 1936. La joven Olive Schools se muda con su padre Harold, un marchante de arte vienés, y Sarah, su madre inglesa heredera de una fortuna, a un pueblito de Andalucía. Olive ama el arte e incluso consigue entrar en la Escuela de Artes en Londres. Sin embargo, decide quedarse y pronto se hace amiga de Teresa, la chica que limpia y cocina para la familia, y de su hermano Issac, quién pinta y es un ferviente defensor de la República. Sarah le encarga un retrato de ella y Olive como regalo para Harold, pero cuando la pintura es revelada, la vida de todos cambiará. La Guerra Civil llega y los atrapa.

Ambas narraciones son contadas alternativamente, creando una lectura atrapante, intentando descubrir los destinos de los personajes y como las relaciones entre ellos dan forma a la novela. La autora presenta los eventos de manera inteligente, llevando al lector a devorar las palabras y las vidas de estos personajes que quedarán en la memoria del lector, cuestionando las decisiones que toman, dejándose llevar por sus sentimientos y sueños.

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Las últimas voluntades del caballero Hawkins (Jesús del Campo)

Las últimas voluntades del caballero Hawkins

Jesús del Campo

A la vuelta de la isla del tesoro, Jim Hawkins decide reabrir una posada en Inglaterra. Pronto, se hospedarán diferentes personas que llenaran los días y noches del joven con las anécdotas de sus vidas.

El fránces Louis-Guillaume Brossac fue el primer huésped, quién le enseñó lo básico de su idioma al señor Hawkins, mientras le relataba la historia de su abuelo y la cortesana que le enseñó a jugar al ajedrez.

Geoffrey Anderson fue el siguiente, quién relató su estancia en el hospital y llegaba a la posada buscando paz y bienestar. Pronto fue considerado un amigo, compartiendo las noches mientras este le enseñaba a leer con los periódicos que llegaban de Londres.

El señor Ambergate contará las aventuras del capitán Walpole en los mares del Sur mientras el pintor holándes Adrian Vrijbloed pintará un portrarretrato del joven posadero.

Más adelante los visitará la hija del señor Ambergate, Edna, quién se transformará en una presencia esencial en la vida de Hawkins. Sin embargo, su partida lo dejará en un estado de ansiedad que intentará acallar con largas cabalgatas a través de los bosques y pueblos.

Situándose en los tiempos del comienzo de la Ilustración, las ideas y emociones discutidas entre Hawkins y los distintos huéspedes lo llevarán  a crecer como persona, convirtiendo su deseo de escapar de su pasado en una aceptación de como el mismo da forma a su presente, y las amistades que florecen en su posada, el futuro al que tanto le teme.

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The Lieutenant (Kate Grenville)

The Lieutenant

Kate Grenville

This novel narrates the story of Daniel Rooke. At the beginning, it displays Daniel's interest in astronomy and the sciences. As he grows up, he enters the navy in order to travel and to be able to work as an astronomer.

In 1778, he sets out in a journey that is going to change the History of the world. He is a lieutenant in the first fleet that is taking prisoners and is going to establish a colony in New South Wales.

Having a letter of recomendation by the Royal Astronomer, he is allowed to set up a tent separated from the rest of the garrison. His main aim is to chart the contellations and to wait for the comet that is going to be seen for the first time after hundreds of years.

However, the stars are not the only things that he is going to chart. Becoming patient and humble, he is contacted by a group of natives that live nearby but have been suspicious of the invaders' intentions.

Soon, a relationship between Daniel and a young aborigen girl called Tagaran grows. This connection is going to make Daniel not only  learn the language but also the fact that the natives are not as different from himself.

In times that not being western was dangerous, Daniel is trying to build a society in which everybody's rights are respected, even the natives who are considered inferior by the English.

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Por último el corazón (Margaret Atwood)

Por último el corazón

Margaret Atwood

La novela narra la historia de Stan y Charmine. Al comienzo, ambos están viviendo en su auto, asustados de los vándalos que pueden atacarlos. Cuando la burbuja financiera explotó en Estados Unidos, a pesar de tener títulos universitarios, ambos pierden sus trabajos y la casa donde vivían, sobreviviendo con las propinas que ella consigue en su trabajo de mesera.

Pronto conocen el proyecto Positrón, el cual incluye una vida con trabajo y casa. Los habitantes de esta ciudad rodeada por altos muros deben vivir un mes en sus casas con sus trabajos civiles y otro mes en la prisión haciendo trabajos relacionados con la vida allí.

La prohibición más importante es no tener contacto con sus alternos, que son las personas que ocupan la casa cuando Stan y Charmine están en la prisión, y viceversa.

Este mundo idílico pronto se envuelve en una espesa atmósfera de silencios y desconfianza, donde parecen que los personajes están atrapados en una tela de araña en la que se juegan sus vidas.

Una auténtica aventura con crítica social, la autora nos lleva a un futuro posible, dónde para tener derechos se deba vivir encerrados.

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Beneath the Apple Leaves (Harmony Verna)

Beneath the Apple Leaves

Harmony Verna

This story is set in 1914 in Pennsylvania in the United Staes. Andrew's father is a coalminer who takes his son into the mine and makes him promise never to work in it. His father has great ideas for Andrew, planning to send him to college to become a veterinain. However, when he dies in an explosion in the mine, Andrew's life changes dramatically. Her mother goes back to Poland and he goes to live with his a husband Wilhelm Kiser.

With a promise of working in the railway,Andrew is going to work as a brakeman as his uncle. However, in the first day he sufferes a terrible accident that changes the prospects of his future life. His uncle decides to move to the countryside, Eveline's longing desire. 

However when they arrive to their new home, they realise that the life in the countryside is not as idyllic as they think: hard-work and a harsh coming winter, the leaking roof of the farmhouse and the almost non existent grass. On the other side, they meet Lily Morton, a soulful girl that is going to help them to settle down and steal Andrew's heart.

When the war starts in Europe, the German descendatn families start suffering the implications of their origin and people's discrimination because of that.

Showing the reality of the time, the author brings us a beautiful story of endurance and love, of sacrifice and loyalty, ofw hat people are

capable to do for their family even in the darkest of times.

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El buscador de Guacas (Luisa Gonzalez)

El buscador de Guacas

Luisa Gonzalez

Aurelio Del Peral trabaja el esparto durante toda su vida, convirtiéndose en su propio jefe en su exitoso negocio, y su esposa Narcisa Pozueta contaba el dinero que Aurelio conseguía. Sin embargo, con la llegada del ferrocarril a El Salado, se vió obligado a vender su negocio y convertirse en un jubilado más.

La pareja contaba con tres hijas: Plácida, y las dos pequeñas Segunda y Humbelina, quién nació con una discapacidad motriz.

Ama, de Amadora, es la empleada de la familia y quién lleva adelante la casa al igual que la crianza de las niñas. Con el paso del tiempo se ha convertido en la amante de Aurelio, a quién ama dulcemente. Es él quién por primera vez escribe su nombre en la tierra cuando ella se lo pide.

Sin embargo, cuando Aurelio y Narcisa fallecen en una epidemia de la fiebre tifoidea, todo el dinero que habían ahorrado permanece oculto en algún lugar de la casa. Plácida revuelve toda la casa buscándolo con la ayuda de Ama. Sin el mismo, no tendrán manera de sobrevivir.

En el pueblo aparece Leonel Pereira. Él se denomina a si mismo como "buscador de guacas", de tesoros escondidos, y se instala en el antiguo depósito del negocio de Aurelio.  Pronto, Plácida lo contactará.

Una novela llena de poesía y aventura, los eventos se encuentran envueltos en la magia del ambiente, llevando al lector a adentrarse en el pueblo de El Salado. 

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Tulip Fever (Deborah Moggach)

Tulip Fever

Deborah Moggach

The story is set in The Netherlands during the time of the tulip fever the title makes reference to. It narrates the story of Sophia, the young wife of Cornelis an ageing merchant, and her passionate affair with the painter Jan Van Loos.

At the beggining of the novel, Sophia and Cornelis are having lunch when Cornelis proposes her to have a painting done to outlive their own mortal lives. The painter arrives some days later and since they set eyes on each other, Sophia and Jan become in love.

A subplot is the story of Maria, Sophia's servant, and Willem, the fishseller. She is a simple girl from the countryside who, despite being uneducated, has some practical sense that make her more capable of dealing with every day problems than Sophia is.

Sophia and the painter starts meeting in his studio and she feels the thrills of having to run through the streets of Amsterdam  trying not to be found. 

I didn't fall. I flew! I have been given the airy immunity of an angel.

Soon they are planning how to get together for ever. However, Cornelis is a powerful man and they know that he can find them wherever they go.

When Maria gets pregnant and Willem disappears, Sophia feels she has the opportunity to escape the prison her life with Cornelis has become. 

With a narration full of references to the beautiful paintings of that time, the book discusses the immortality of art and how it simply represents what the painter sees of the world, not the truth itself.

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La posada de las Almas (Luisa Gonzalez)

La Posada de las Almas

Luisa Gonzalez

La posada de las almas es el cementerio del pueblo de Campos. El protagonista, Eliseo Soler, visita la tumba de su esposa Cruz todos los días para leerle un poema de amor que él escribió. También, su rutina lo lleva al bar La Gloria dónde se encuentra con su mejor amigo Telesforo a comer almendras garrapiñadas y tomar una copita. Su casa la maneja María y en Capellán, una ciudad cercana, vive su hija Luz y su nieta Cruz. 

Cuando empieza la historia, Eliseo se encuentra preocupado por una noticia que le hizo llegar Jacinto, el hombre que tomó su lugar en su antiguo trabajo. Nos enteramos que el gobierno quiere construir una represa donde se encuentra el pueblo. Esta noticia llevará a sus pobladores a preguntarse a si mismos que quieren de su futuro, contándonos su pasado y presente, los cuales hacen a la narración rica en descripciones.

El lenguaje que usa la autora es poesía pura, leyéndose frases como:

El piar de los pájaros en las copas de los pinos impedía el silencio o formada parte de él.

Memoria y nombre es lo único que queda de los muertos.

Por eso cuando Eliseo Soler se desanudó de su apretón, se sintió como aventado por las astas de un molino.

Basada en un hecho real en España durante la época del franquismo, la novel relata la batalla entre unos pequeños David y un gigantesco Goliath.  Quién gane es solo cuestión de tiempo, pero las que siempre ganan son las palabras.

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The Power (Naomi Alderman)

The Power

Naomi Alderman

This story is a speculative fiction as it is set in a near future and the events are likely to happen, taking into account our current worldwide situation.

Suddenly women have the power to electrocute by touch. This new evolutionary situation brings a lot of changes in the relations between men and women. This power is developed by teenagers around 15 years old and these girls can pass this ability to grown up women.

The narration is told in four big areas, telling how these events change the lives of four people.

One of them is Roxy, the daughter of a criminal who looks for revenge for the death of her mother. The second one  is Tunde, a young man who becomes a journalist uploading videos in Youtube showing the new phenomenon around the world. The third story narrates the story of Margot, a politician decided to pull up her career with the women's powerful circumstances. The last one is Allie, an adopted teenager that escapes her abusive father and becomes a religious icon.

An exploration of power, identity and the unpedictability of the future, this novel leads the reader to a new world. However,women may not be better rulers than men.

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Witchlight/Corrag (Susan Fletcher)

Witchlight/Corrag

Susan Fletcher

This novel is just poetry. The beautiful language in which the life of Corrag is narrated and her connection with nature display the author's love for this character. 

At the biginning of the story, Corrag is imprisoned as she is considered a witch that has helped some of the MacDonald clan to survive a massacre perpetuated by English Soldiers. She narrates her life to Mr. Leslie, an Irishman that is trying to discover King William's implication in the massacre. Being a Jacobite, his cause is to re-establish King James to the throne.

The narration is full of paragraphs that emphasise Corrag's intimate connection with nature:

Things come to us like gifts. They do. Gifts come, and we must take them - for they are the world saying here- this way.

Your heart's voice is your true voice. It is easy to ignore it, for sometimes it says what we'd rather it did not - and it is so hard to risk the things we have. But what life are we living, if we don't live by our hearts? Not a true one. And the person living is not the true you.

Her wisdom populated the pages of the book. Her herbs heal bodies and souls. Her knowled
ge comes from her love to all natural elements that surround her, learning with every step she takes in her life.

- that there will always be the signs that a life was lived. Children, tales, words they said. Places thay named. Marks they left in dust, or on a bark. People they love, and told so.

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Eleanor Oliphant esta perfectamente (Gail Hoenyman)

Eleanor Oliphant esta perfectamente

Gil Honeyman

Eleanor es la protagonista de esta novela que relata su vida. Ella trabaja de oficinista de 9 a 5, conversa con su madre todos los miércoles y se sumerge los fines de semana en botellas de vodka para que el tiempo pase. Así ha vivido muchos años.

Eleanor no tiene amigos y no se lleva con sus compañeros de oficina. Sin embargo, pronto conoce a Raymond, el encargado de informática, quien de a poco introducirá cambios en su vida.

El evento que comienza a unirlos como amigos es cuando un abuelo se desmaya en la calle y ambos lo asisten. Mas tarde, lo visitaran  en el hospital y de allí, siguen reuniones familiares, cumpleaños e incluso un funeral.

También sucede que Eleanor va a un concierto y queda "enamorada" del cantante. Con la idea que el destino los unirá, comenzará a cambiar su imagen exterior con el fin de atraerlo.

Con cada situación, el lector verá como Eleanor comienza a interactuar con otras personas lo que la llevará a cambiar su actitud hacia los demás y sus ideas con respecto a su trágico pasado y a su futuro.

Eleanor es un personaje que se hace querer y a quien se le desea un final feliz, aunque le lleve desenterrar horrores de su pasado que lleva marcadas en su rostro.

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The birth fo Venus (Sarah Dunant)

The birth of Venus

Sarah Dunant

Alessandra Cecchi is the protagonist of this historical fiction set in Florence in the 1400s. She belongs to an aristocratic family connected to the Medici in power.

She loves painting and knows how to read and write in Greek and Latin. She would love to dedicate her life to the Arts but at that time of History that was forbidden to women. When her father hired a painter to illustrate the roof of the family chapel, she soon feels attracted to him. She tries to get his help and to improve her skills towards painting.

However, the bachelor Cristoforo Langella seems to be interested in Alessandra and later she gets married being only 16 years old. Innocent and gullible, she makes a deal with him that soon she is goint to regret as her husband becomes a complete stranger.

Besides the twists of the plot, the reader enjoys the description of the sculptures, paintings and even the faccades of the buidings in Florence at that time. The Renassaince is its plenitude.

The political upheaval at the time is also something realistically portrayed by the author, with the powerful influence of the Catholic church in the city.

A powerful narration of a part of an important classical period  portrayed in the life of a girl who will have to fight for her rights in a time that only seems to imprison her.

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The Secret Scripture (Sebastian Barry)

The Secret Scripture

Sebastian Barry

This novel narrates the story of Rosennae, a hundred-year-old lady who has been imprisoned in an asylum for most of her life. Alongside her narration, we find the story of Dr. Greene, the psychiatrist that is trying to unearth the reasons why Roseanne has been sent to the hospital.

As this is portrayed in the way of both characters's personal diaries, we soon learn Roseanne loves for her father and the distressful situation of her mother. However, Roseanne is not a reliable narrator, and many of the critical events of her life are contrasted with the findings of Dr. Green through the documents written by Fr Gaunt, a priest who had a lot of power in Roseanne's little town.

Roseanne's marriage with Thomas Mcnulty seems to be her way out of loniless. However, it soon become her dismay.

Dr. Greene fights with his marriage, being separated from his wife but living in the same house. Soon tragic engulfs him.

This book travels through the themes of humans's questions about life and the essence of gief and memory. A real page-turner, the end is going to find you totally unprepared, leaving you with the feeling that love  always wins.

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Days without End (Sebastian Barry)

Days without End

Sebastian Barry

This novel narrates the story of Thomas McNulty, an Irish boy that left Ireland because of the famine. He went to America like thousands of Irish men and fought in the Indian war and the Civil war.

He was a boy when he met John Cole, who became his friend and lover. Together, they were going to try to survive during a time of hardship.

The book beautifully narrates how they became to dress as girls in a saloon to entertain miners as women weren't in the area, They meet Mr Noore and soon they were really appreciated by him.

Later, they moved to a fort and became soldiers. They participated in the extermination of Native Americans like the Sioux people. There is also a magnificient scene when the protagonist hunted buffaloes, showing the trepidation and the courage Thomas had.

 There, they took a Native American girl who they called Winona as a servant. However, soon they loved her and adopted her as a daughter.

They novel is narrated in magnificient language, poetically portrayed the lives of the characters. Soon to become a classic, Barry writes about love, courage, inmigration and survival, eternal themes that throughout history intrigue human beings.

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Las luces de Septiembre (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)

Las luces de Septiembre

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Esta novela relata la historia de la familia Sauvelle. Después de quedar viuda, la madre de la familia Simone acepta un puesto de ama de llaves en Cravenmoore, una mansion en Bahia Azul, en Normandía. Con ella se muda sus dos hijos adolescentes, Irene y Dorian.

La mansión pertenece a Lazarus Jann, creador de juguetes autómatas, capaces de moverse y parecer humanos. Cravenmoor esta llena de sombras, y estas se convertirán en una amenaza para su dueño y la familia.

En paralelo, se desarrolla la historia de amor entre Irene e Ismael, un pescador de la zona. Los dos adolescentes de a poco se irán conociendo, afianzando sus sentimientos por el otro.

Pronto un secreto que involucra a Lazarus Jann se une a las leyendas de la zona, llevando a los personajes a un lugar de misterio y horror.

Realmente este libro se devora. La trama esta muy bien construida y es entretenida, empujando

a los lectores a recorrer cada rincón de la mansión y de la bahía, acompañando a los personajes en su carrera por descubrir los secretos que esconde Cravenmoor.

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Inferno (Dan Brown)

Inferno

Dan Brown

¡Una gran Aventura! El profesor Robert Langdon se despierta en la habitación de un hospital, con un golpe en la cabeza y sin memoria de lo que vivió los dos últimos días. La doctora Sienna Brooks se volverá su aliada, intentando que recuerde.

De repente, una mujer aparece disparando y Robert y Sienna deberán escapar. En su departamento, descubren un tubo que solo se abre con la huella digital del profesor. Una imagen del Inferno de Dante pintado por Boticelli aparece, aunque la imagen esta retocada.

A partir de este dato, la pareja deberá descubrir las pistas que un científico ha dejado, la que los llevará por los hermosos edificios en Florencia y Venecia, hasta la magnífica Santa Sofia en Estambul. 

Dicho científico llamado Zobrist se ha suicidado unos días antes, dejando un legado que explica que la población mundial ha sobrepasado su número y que una plaga debe erradicar la mitad de la población así la especie puede sobrevivir.

En una carrera contrarreloj, ambos personajes descubren pistas y visitan lugares históricos. Esta novel amantendrá a los lectores entretenidos y expectantes hasta la última página.

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A Scene (Ana Ovejero- creative writing workshop)

A Scene

Ana Ovejero

Sitting by the window, Ernest saw the snowflakes falling from the sky. His skinny finger drew sad faces on the glass. He had been isolated from the world for months. He couldn’t remember the smell of the city in winter, the nude branches of the trees, the slick surface of the lake.

His longing for fresh air was excruciating. Since his lung cancer being diagnosed, his friend and family had kept him enclosed, like in a bubble.

Patrick opened the door. He moved t-shirts, trousers, sneakers, underpants away with the tip of his shoe. He bought the latest result. Ernest would die tomorrow. There was an antidote, but it was painful. Also, he would have to live his whole life inside the four walls of his flat; the touch of spring, the heat of summer, the fallen leaves of autumn, the cold air of winter, lost friends forever.

Ernest took a deep breath. The antidote? His life had become a prison. Was he a criminal? Did he deserve a life sentence?

When Richard left, Ernest put on some sneakers, looked for a scarf his mother has knitted for him, and engulfed himself in his beloved father’s coat.

Taking the first step outside his flat took all his determination. It had been months. The freezing air surprised him. The winter had come with intensity despite the global warming experts. The silence overwhelmed him. He thanked God? Destiny? Supernatural forces? For the  opportunity to die surrounded by nature, to have the courage to end it his way, to have the freedom to choose.

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The Circus (Ana Ovejero-creative writing workshop)

The Circus

Ana Ovejero

Sophia was sitting down on her armchair. Being an old spinster, she was delighted when her niece visited her once a month. Today was the day. Mary was coming with her two children, Clara and Thomas, 8-year-old twins. Sophia always tells them amazing stories from when she was a girl and lived in a small countryside town, and used to give carrots to her neighbour’s horse Penny. 

Now, she was trying to see in her mind her memory about that circus in which she saw a tiger for the first time. However, she could only see the bars of the cage, iron bars, to protect people? To protect the animal? To isolate both? She can see the rings on fire. She struggled to remember how the trick went, she just recalled the filthy surroundings.

When her niece and the children arrived, at the beginning, Sophia pretended not to have any story to share with them. However, as soon as her niece went to the kitchen to make some tea, Sophia whispered to the children ‘Are you ready for the most incredible adventure of all times?’ Big smiles were the answer to her question.

 Sitting around her, Clara and Thomas were the witnesses of the day when Sophia saw that marvellous creature. The tiger, its fur coloured black and brown, its sharp teeth, but above all, its deafening roar, seemed to become alive, its paws silently roaming the room.

The atmosphere exploded when Sophia’s niece arrived and happily declared, ‘Tea is ready!’ The kids moaned. The magic had disappeared. Later, maybe, Sophia would recollect another fantastic story. But for now, it was only tea, biscuits and the TV.

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