No Turning Back

by Lidia Falcón, Jessica Knauss (Translation)

Barcelona, 1986: The dictatorship is over and life is free and easy. But what if you can't forget the seventies? Elisa's troubled past comes back to her in the form of her ex-husband, Arnau, who needs her help to exonerate a former comrade. Elisa relives her Catholic childhood, her marriage to Arnau, her blind loyalty to the communist cause, her experiments in feminism, and her prison time to create a twentieth-century emotional history of the political Left in Spain. The women who faced so much adversity with Elisa weave their own perspectives and testimonies into hers, making this more than a it's an important contribution to history that gives a voice to the silenced. Can Elisa ever leave the path history has carved out for her? Or is there no turning back? "Followers of contemporary Spanish history ... will now have the opportunity to understand some of its complex factors ... through Falcón's unswerving critical appraisal of Spanish politics. ... Knauss's agile and eloquent translation guarantees that the memory of clandestine resistance is no longer consigned to the past or to scholars." -from the introduction by Linda Gould Levine, PhD

Genres: Spain, Historical Fiction

308 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

Lidia Falcón O'Neill
aka
Lidia Falcón
daughter of: César Falcón and Regina Flavio,
granddaughter of: Nora Avante,
niece of Carlota O'Neill

Reviews

[Meg - A Bookish Affair · Rating 4 out of 5]

"No Turning Back" takes place during a very volatile time in Spain's history after the fall of the Franco era in the mid-1980s. It was a very difficult time in the country's history and very difficult for so many different groups of people. This book follows Elisa, who is trying to find her footing in this new reality, while looking back at her past.

Before this book, I really didn't know much about the history of Spain during this era so it was really interesting to learn about it. It was even more interesting to learn about this time period through the eyes of someone like Elisa, a very political young woman, who has a very unique story and therefore a very unique perspective on her country's past, present, and future. This book has both political and feminist overtones so those that enjoy reading about those subjects will probably enjoy this historical fiction story. Elisa was absolutely fascinating and I was very much interested in her story. Elisa is a Communist and much of the book discusses her time in prison.

Lidia Falcon is a new to me author but has high acclaim in her home country. I really enjoyed this book and would love more from her. I know there are some out there who don't particularly enjoy translations of books. They find them too choppy or not close enough to the original text. This translation is very good and has a very natural flow that keeps the story engaging.

Overall, this is a very good story about fairly recent history!

[Pamela Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lidia Falcon's celebrated feminist novel of a woman's struggles for freedom, both personal and national, within the context of the aftermath of Franco's death is now available in a new translation for English readers. Translated by Jessica Knauss as one of the flagship books of Loose Leaves Publishing, Falcón's novel of freedom and betrayal set against the sweeping backdrop of Spain in the waning days in Franco's regime is absolutely riveting.