Review
"More Iberian ardour... focusing on the high passions an easterly wind provokes in the inhabitants of a small coastal town." FINANCIAL TIMES - SUMMER BOOKS "Most of this story is set in the past, as the events of the present are refracted through continual flashbacks of Juan and Sara's earlier lives - lives twinned in adversity. As the novel zigzags chronologically between its disparate episodes, the outlines of the new arrivals are steadily filled in with intense psychological detail... the dexterity with which Grandes is able to unpick psychological states makes for a convincing and moving book." THE TIMES "In her fifth novel, Grandes reaches the peak of her powers. This magnificent saga of shipwrecked lives grips from the first sentence and weaves parallel intrigues of memory and survival, money and revenge, resolved only in the closing pages... Here, she has perfected her ability to leap between stories and epochs." -- ELIZABETH NASH THE INDEPENDENT 'Into the rich mix Grandes throws some classic ingredients of fairytales and fables... This is a big novel, designed to fill a Spanish summer - and they get longer holidays than us. Grandes never lets the pace slacken, combining a cracking story with convincing characterisation and good detail.' -- MIRANDA FRANCE DAILY TELEGRAPH "classy blockbuster material of a sort - a layered saga of familylife, rivalry and redemption...an interesting alternative to the homegrown bestseller market. As a study of obsessive passions and climatic conditions, it makes for a sweeping beach read." -- JOANNA BRISCOE THE GUARDIAN "Many of her books have been turned into films and she has a cinematic style that relies on the visual sense and on dialogue... The writing is impressively measured... this more mature novel is impressive in the way it develops and sustains Juan's and Sara's parallel stories, accommodates numerous characters and interweaves counter themes." MSLEXIA "This novel confirms Almudena Grandes as one of Spain's leading writers... This is a hugely intelligent, wise novel. It also tells a gripping story... The Wind From the East has universal significance." SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "Plenty of passion in this huge, florid romance. There's an absorbing small-town soap opera at its core." THE SATURDAY AGE, MELBOURNE "combines the traditions of classic epic narration of the nineteenth century with those of a modern contemporary novel. It is, in both senses, a great book." EL PAIS "Originally written in Spanish, it doesn't seem to lose anything in translation, and has that quality typical of good Latin writing; detailed, vivid and colourful imagery and still retaining a simplicity and rawness, making it entertaining and believable at the same time." FREEMANTLE HERALD, PERTH "This big, juicy saga is perfect for chilly nights. Thrilling and toe-curling in equal measure. This is Grandes' second novel following her successful The Ages of Lulu. She's now a fixture on my holiday reading list" SUNDAY TIMES, PERTH
A sinuous saga by Spanish novelist Grandes (The Ages of Lulu, 1994, etc.) pursues a tangle of apartment-house relationships in an Andalusian seaside town.The arrival of the ill-fated Olmedo family from Madrid arouses the interest of residents in a new upper-middle-class housing development located on the outskirts of a popular tourist resort. Among them is 53-year-old Sara G-mez, the overprotected unmarried daughter of a captain in Franco's army, also from Madrid. The new family, Sara learns from her cleaner, Maribel, consists of 40-ish orthopedic doctor Juan Olmedo, his retarded brother Alfonso and their ten-year-old niece Tamara, whose parents died in separate accidents within months of each other. Trying to make a new life for them in the pleasant town besieged by dangerous, changing east-west winds, Juan sends Tamara to school and secures daycare for Alfonso. Meanwhile, Maribel, divorced and lovelorn, with her own ten-year-old in tow, begins working for the doctor. Lonely Juan is still recovering from the death of his sister-in-law; he was passionately in love with Charo both before and after she married his brother Damian. Extensive flashbacks reveal each character's secrets. Juan is fleeing potential prosecution for his brother's death: He was with Damian at the time of the accident, but claims he did not push his brother down the stairs in anger. Sara, who has just sold her godmother's Madrid apartment for a monstrous sum, contemplates a reunion with the love of her life, father of her miscarried child. Fleshy, uneducated Maribel shakes off her hard-luck past (a no-good Lothario for a first husband) and, to the surprise of everyone, beds the needy doctor himself.Grandes's serenely composed, ponderous work celebrates the healing power of friendship. It's long-running, but ultimately satisfying. (Kirkus Reviews)
Product Description
In a small seaside suburb two strangers arrive - Juan Olmedo, accompanied by his mentally disabled brother and his young niece, and Sara Gomez, an enigmatic woman in her fifties. Both have their reasons for fleeing the city. Sara's father had returned from the Civil war a broken man, unable to support his family. In desperation, her mother was forced to give up the young baby to her childless employer. Growing up amidst a background that would never truly be her own, Sara was forever caught between her love of the good life and her feelings of duty towards a family and a poverty that repelled her. Now Sara has more money than she had ever dreamed, but her freedom has come at a price.Juan also has his reasons for starting a new life. A doctor in the local ER unit, he is haunted by a tragedy in his family's past and by a secret sexual obsession that threatens the fragile equilibrium he has found in his new home.Like the capricious winds that dominate the coast, bringing chaos or clemency in their wake, the lives of these two people are pitched from fortune to adversity by forces beyond their command.
