By truth divided

by Teresa De Luca

Two very different families, one English, one Spanish, find themselves caught in the crossfire of the Spanish Civil War. Torn apart by divided loyalties, both are forced to take sides in a conflict which threatens to destroy everything they hold dear.Linking them are Jack Austen, an ambitious working class journalist determined to make his name as a war correspondent, and Dolores (Dolly) Carrasquez, daughter of an English mother and a wealthy Nationalist landowner. The consequences of a brief illicit affair between a youthful Jack and Dolly will reach far into the future as he now finds himself compelled to find and rescue a woman he had sworn never to forgive, whose whereabouts are unknown but whose life he fears must be danger.Meanwhile Dolly, now married with a child, has to face the repercussions of the choices she once made and employ desperate measures to ensure her own survival and that of her loved ones, including her two elder brothers, now on opposing sides.As Jack and Dolly's paths continually fail to cross, their fates remain nonetheless entwined in ways neither are aware of till both are ultimately faced with irrevocable and heartbreaking decisions, affecting not only themselves but an interlinked network of supporting characters. Their inner conflicts reflect the tumult all around them as an action-packed narrative shifts between London, Madrid, Estramadura, Andalucia and the Basque Country.As Jack and Dolly learn to their cost, the first casualty of war is truth, but it is the truth they must both confront at the end of their painful journeys towards self-knowledge.'Skillfully conjures up a dramatic slice of history, spicing it with delicious irony, romance, and sharp-witted, complex characters' - Publishers' Weekly.Originally published by The Bodley Head and Pan, this edition follows recent e-republication of YESTERDAY, and BAPTISM OF FIRE by the same author.About the AuthorLucy Floyd was born in London of Polish-Italian parentage and read French at King's College London, spending a year of her course as an Assistante in a Paris lycee. After too many day jobs to list, she became a full time writer, producing 11 published novels, over 200 short stories and numerous commissioned screenplays for film and television, one of which was shortlisted for the Orange Screenwriting Prize. Her work has been translated into fourteen languages. In 2008 she moved from London with her photographer husband to the rural heartland of South West France where she is currently working on a very slender volume of poetry.

640 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Callum Clement · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impeccably researched, this sweeping epic examines the whole brutal tragedy of the Spanish Civil War & the devastating effects on the civilian population as families were torn apart, or irrevocably divided depending on which side of the nuanced political divide their sympathies lay. It also examines the role of the International Brigades & brings home the message that in war, there are no goodies & baddies, only victims. This is more than a war novel, more than a political novel, more than a love story. A huge, historical epic that is more than the sum of its parts.

[Shirley Conley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book took longer to read (almost three times as long) as the Spanish civil war itself. I do not recommend it. I started it in 2015. But it aside until June 2020. Since then, I have been trying to finish it and just finished today. Hallelujah! The characters were not interesting or relatable. The story itself was as disjointed as my reading. I did not like it and did not even enjoy seeing it on my shelve.

[May Watt]

Unable to finish reading