Vedette: or Conversations with the Flamenco Shadows

by Stephen Siciliano

Born to a Gothic social order, branded a haunter of men's dreams, Vedette is traumatized when her small town in the magical wetlands of southern Spain's Guadalquivir River is overrun by hashish-smoking anarchists promising free love and a life without sadness to those who would follow them.Entranced by their flamenco music, their philosophy of revenge, and the concrete ability to deliver political results, the young woman joins a movement destined to annihilation and becomes its sole survivor, burdened with the task of keeping its memory and project for a better world alive through conversations with their flamenco shadows.Transcending political viewpoints, Mr. Siciliano opens a new chapter in the understanding of the Spanish Civil War, opting for a literary interpretation that looks beyond right and wrong to more universal lessons only the passage of decades and the healing effects of time can reveal.

388 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2004

About the author

Stephen Siciliano is a writer living in Los Angeles. He is a professional reporter of some 35 years experience. His novels include "Vedette or Conversations with the Flamenco Shadows," and "The Sidewalk Smokers Club." He blogs on politics, poetry and prose at highwayscribery.

Reviews

[Tara Chevrestt]

This is one of those books that has parts I really really like and parts I really dislike. If it didn't have the disliked parts, it would have earned a higher rating from me..

First what I liked: The idea. A young girl, an unintentional seducer of men escapes the inappropriately amorous clutches of her father and ends up with a band of hay cutters... The hay cutters (and remember, this is Spain and back when they didn't have unions..) are mistreated by the foreman and one day, the workers are dealt a bit to much cruelty and they fight back.. and then some! Vedette ends up running away with these people and they travel and dance and sing and get involved in uprisings and make people mad.. There is a bullfighter named Paula (it's a man), a horny priest, prison, poetry, an Arab.. all kinds of people and exciting events.

I also liked watching Vedette grow. She began as what at first I deemed a petulant, spoiled child. By the end of the novel, she was more of a vigilante. Here's an idea of how tough she became:

"...and I kicked Rondeno between the legs and split his face with Santi's rifle. Blood shot out and I wanted to grab his head and suck it."

Pretty vicious when she needs to be.

What I didn't like: The vulgar language... First of all, let me confess, I curse like a sailor. It's not foul language I have a problem with. My problem was the strange ways the language is used and the OVERUSe of it.. The two most common annoyances for me were, "I s*** on the mother that... I s*** in the mouth of..." and "whore of a f***." What the heck is that? LOL Had Santi, the speaker of the above mentioned terms been knocked off early in the book, I would have enjoyed it more.

And finally, the drug use. Vedette and her group are constantly smoking "chocolate." In America we call it weed, hash, pot, whatever.. you get the picture.

It wins some, it loses some. Try it for yourself.