Cry, Mother Spain - Softcover

In the summer of 1936, Montse is fifteen years old and her country is on the brink of civil war. Her tiny village in the North East of Spain is a world away from the tensions beginning to overspill in other parts of the country, but when her brother José returns after a period working in the nearest town, brimming with revolutionary enthusiasm, Montse is captivated. Swept away by the fervour of the revolution, caught between love, family and honour, her sheltered life will be abruptly changed forever.

Years later, her memory failing, she tells her daughter about this one dazzling summer, and as she listens to her mother's story, her daughter reads the shattering anti-Franco pamphlet, Les Grands Cimetières sous la lune by the right-wing novelist George Bernanos. Revolted by the brutality of the Franco regime, and unable to forgive the sickening complicity of the Catholic Church, Bernanos's writings struck a blow at the heart of the pro-fascist forces and brought down a hefty price upon his head.

Powerful and devastating, Cry, Mother Spain fuses two very different experiences of one horrific conflict, making up a complex tapestry of love, faith and revolution. A searing, personal account with a relevance that resonates like a manifesto for modern times.