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8th out of 158 books
—
59 voters
The Return
From the internationally bestselling author of The Island comes a dazzling new novel of family betrayals, forbidden love, and historical turmoil.
Sonia knows nothing of Granada's shocking past, but ordering a simple cup of coffee in a quiet cafÉ will lead her into the extraordinary tale of a family's fight to survive the horror of the Spanish Civil War.
Seventy year
...more
Published
(first published January 1st 2008)
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Η συγγραφέας πραγματεύεται ένα θέμα ταμπού μέχρι πρότινος, τον εμφύλιο πόλεμο στην Ισπανία! Ένα βιβλίο που προβληματίζει τον αναγνώστη και τον ευαισθητοποιεί βοηθώντας τον να κατανοήσει την αξία του ειρηνικής ζωής! Το βιβλίο μας μυεί στον εμφύλιο πόλεμο της Ισπανίας μέσα από την αναδρομική εξιστόρηση της οικογένειας Ραμίρεζ που αποδεκατίστηκε από τον εν λόγω πόλεμο. Το βιβλίο είναι πολυεπίπεδο και η ιστορία εκτυλίσσεται σε δυο χρονικά και τοπικά επίπεδα. Η Σόνια, μια 32χρονη αγγλίδα το 2001 κάνε...more
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Gripping account of the Spanish Civil War
The body of this book consists the story of the Ramirez family of Granada during the Spanish Republic, the Civil War and the ensuing years. It is a tremendously powerful narrative and cannot fail to stir the emotions. The detail reflects the huge effort that the author must have put into her research.
The vehicle for the main story, which is the journey of Sonia, as she tries to fill the gap left in her life by her empty marriage with an adventure into fla...more
The body of this book consists the story of the Ramirez family of Granada during the Spanish Republic, the Civil War and the ensuing years. It is a tremendously powerful narrative and cannot fail to stir the emotions. The detail reflects the huge effort that the author must have put into her research.
The vehicle for the main story, which is the journey of Sonia, as she tries to fill the gap left in her life by her empty marriage with an adventure into fla...more
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I like books that stay with me after I’ve finished reading them. Victoria Hislop’s re-telling of the Spanish Civil War in The Return made me want to read more history books about the period. Before we came to Spain I knew little about the Civil War. If pressed, I would quote only Picasso’s Guernica, the death of Lorca, and George Orwell fighting with the International Brigades. That, and Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman in the film of Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. So The Return added a new...more
The book is about a woman called Sonia who travels to Spain to dance and learns of the history of the place that she is staying – more specifically, of the civil war.
I loved the musical element...
"She recognized the music. It was one of the tracks that they had danced to that afternoon and the familiarity of its rhythm gave her confidence. It was neither too slow, nor too fast. The five minutes that followed were intimate, energetic, enlivening and physical. Almost immediately she felt the welco...more
I loved the musical element...
"She recognized the music. It was one of the tracks that they had danced to that afternoon and the familiarity of its rhythm gave her confidence. It was neither too slow, nor too fast. The five minutes that followed were intimate, energetic, enlivening and physical. Almost immediately she felt the welco...more
Amei este livro. Depois da “Ilha” este “O regresso” não me desiludiu em nada.
Duas amigas vão para Granada dançar salsa. Eu adoro Salsa e dança em geral pelo que o tema interessou-me logo de início. Depois é um romance histórico, género que eu adoro.
Aprendi imenso com este livro. Aprendi coisas que já deveria saber, considerando que Espanha é já aqui ao lado e que partilha tanto da sua história connosco. Sorri e chorei com este livro.
Conta-nos uma história de amor atípica, sem o rumo esperado, e...more
Duas amigas vão para Granada dançar salsa. Eu adoro Salsa e dança em geral pelo que o tema interessou-me logo de início. Depois é um romance histórico, género que eu adoro.
Aprendi imenso com este livro. Aprendi coisas que já deveria saber, considerando que Espanha é já aqui ao lado e que partilha tanto da sua história connosco. Sorri e chorei com este livro.
Conta-nos uma história de amor atípica, sem o rumo esperado, e...more
"Nas ruas calcetadas de Granada ecoam música e segredos. Sónia Cameron não sabe nada sobre o passado chocante da cidade; ela está lá para dançar. Mas num café sossegado, uma conversa casual e uma colecção intrigante de fotografias antigas despertam a sua atenção para a história extraordinária da devastadora Guerra Civil Espanhola.
Setenta anos antes, o café era a casa da unida família Ramirez. Em 1936, um golpe militar liderado por Franco destrói a frágil paz do país, e no coração de Granada a fa...more
Setenta anos antes, o café era a casa da unida família Ramirez. Em 1936, um golpe militar liderado por Franco destrói a frágil paz do país, e no coração de Granada a fa...more
The Return is a beautiful novel of the Spanish Civil War, infused with dance and relationships, the sound of castanets and guitar contrasted with gunfire and screams. As with her previous novel, The Island, Victoria Hislop surrounds the story with a tale of modern womanhood in search of identity. This time a woman is questioning her marriage, finding unexpected solace in dance classes, and wondering at the incongruity of an independent woman enjoying the apparent subservience of being “led” arou...more
This was a painful read; got a lot more than I'd asked for.
The book's strength is completely in the flashback telling of Franco's rise in pre-WWII Spain. I was completely ignorant of his torturous reign and it got-to-me in it's intensely graphic and devastating familial context. Never-the-less, I highly recommend it.
The dovetailing story of flamenco over two generations, and the modern British romances (wait, is this last an oxymoron?) work well, but Hislop has a clunky hand in the love arena...more
The book's strength is completely in the flashback telling of Franco's rise in pre-WWII Spain. I was completely ignorant of his torturous reign and it got-to-me in it's intensely graphic and devastating familial context. Never-the-less, I highly recommend it.
The dovetailing story of flamenco over two generations, and the modern British romances (wait, is this last an oxymoron?) work well, but Hislop has a clunky hand in the love arena...more
Synopsis:
Sonia visits Granada to celebrate a friend's birthday with a dance class. Unfamiliar with the city's past and the brutality under Franco's regime, a chance encounter at a neighborhood cafe introduces Sonia to the brave and complex story of the Rodriguez family's suffering and survival through the Spanish civil war.
Seventy years earlier, Concha and Pablo owned and managed the same cafe with no notion of the danger and pain that would soon visit their family. Their eldest son, Antonio, is...more
Sonia visits Granada to celebrate a friend's birthday with a dance class. Unfamiliar with the city's past and the brutality under Franco's regime, a chance encounter at a neighborhood cafe introduces Sonia to the brave and complex story of the Rodriguez family's suffering and survival through the Spanish civil war.
Seventy years earlier, Concha and Pablo owned and managed the same cafe with no notion of the danger and pain that would soon visit their family. Their eldest son, Antonio, is...more
After being blown away by "The Island" I immediately ordered "The Return" and I am not disappointed. I am now an official Victoria Hislop fan. Her novels are to be savored and enjoyed.
"The Return" begins in recent times in England. Readers are introduced to a middle aged woman named Sonia. This part is very similiar to "The Island" as both heroines are having relationship issues and are both facing similiar difficult choices.. basically "stay with this jerk or leave" type choices. I found parts...more
"The Return" begins in recent times in England. Readers are introduced to a middle aged woman named Sonia. This part is very similiar to "The Island" as both heroines are having relationship issues and are both facing similiar difficult choices.. basically "stay with this jerk or leave" type choices. I found parts...more
7 likes
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There are many things to like about The Return, but also some things that were too predictable and required a willing suspension of belief. The good parts: the descriptions of flamenco were wonderful. I know so little about this dance and I learned a lot. I could tell that she definitely did her research about the Spanish Civil War, which is also an era of history I know too little about. All of my knowledge about this era comes from "The Shadow of the Wind" and the movie "Pan's Labyrinth." Howe...more
Sep 27, 2011
Rebecca eley
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who liked the first book or books that show you a little history
Recommended to Rebecca by:
Me
Shelves:
other
The book tells the story of Sonia and her journey to Spain where she uncovers the tale of one family’s tragic journey through the Spanish Civil War. The majority of the book is taken up with the history of the Ramirez family. It does touch on Sonia’s personal journal but not in nearly so much detail. It is definitely more about the history and for that it is more than worth reading.
I started reading the first five pages so many times and it just didn’t grip me at all. However as I am on a missio...more
I started reading the first five pages so many times and it just didn’t grip me at all. However as I am on a missio...more
May 13, 2010
Meira Eliot
is currently reading it
It's almost as if countries can have karma, like people do. While the rest of us Europeans were still in the Dark Ages, Spain was a multi-ethnic island of tolerance and excellence, safeguarding the legacy of the Greeks through Arab translations. Then along come Ferdinand and Isabella, chuck out the Jews and the Muslims in the same year as Columbus discovered America, and the upshot is a quagmire of bigotry and intolerance that is still going on in the 20th century in the form of the Spanish Civi...more
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The Return by Victoria Hislop is truly a history lesson regarding the turmoil in Spain and the civil war that the people endured. Through the eyes of Miguel, the current owner of El Barril, a café in the heart of Granada we eavesdrop as he explains events to Sonia a young visitor from England.
Sonia has traveled with her life long friend to Granada to further her dancing experiences. While there she learns that her love for the flamingo is almost as powerful as the dance itself. She is driven to...more
Sonia has traveled with her life long friend to Granada to further her dancing experiences. While there she learns that her love for the flamingo is almost as powerful as the dance itself. She is driven to...more
I finished reading this book a couple of days ago and I'm glad that I am writing the review now and not then. This is because I haven't stopped thinking about it which means it has had a big impact on me, which has surprised me! I really wanted to like this book but found myself becoming bored and listless with it. I didn't warm to the main character in the present Sonia at all and part one centred around her and her need to dance. The dance sequences went into a great deal of detail which didnt...more
There are lots of things to like about this book, and yet I can only give it three stars because it just didn't quite grip me. "The Return" is not one of those books that you "just can't put down" --- I actually had to make myself pick it up and keep reading most of the time.
And yet --- this is not a bad book. The style of writing is good, and the characters are interesting. A few years ago I spent 2 weeks in Granada, so I could really see the streets and Plazas of the city - as well as the magn...more
And yet --- this is not a bad book. The style of writing is good, and the characters are interesting. A few years ago I spent 2 weeks in Granada, so I could really see the streets and Plazas of the city - as well as the magn...more
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I have just begun (P 36) to read this second novel by Victoria Hislop. The story is set in Civil War Spain was suggested by Tara. Too soon to know, but I think I'm going to like this book a lot!
I am now into Part II of the book which is now set inn the early days of the Spanish Civil War. The plot and the characters are very interesting. I have already ordered the author's first boo, "The Island". Will review when complete next week.
Nov 13 Have now completed "The Return", an excellent novel set...more
I am now into Part II of the book which is now set inn the early days of the Spanish Civil War. The plot and the characters are very interesting. I have already ordered the author's first boo, "The Island". Will review when complete next week.
Nov 13 Have now completed "The Return", an excellent novel set...more
The Return feels as if it’s almost told in two parts. In the present day you meet Sonia. She’s a middle-aged woman who is having relationship issues and is facing some tough decisions when it comes to her marriage. She is visiting Spain with a friend and they decide to take some dancing classes to celebrate her friend’s birthday.
While on her trip she meets an elderly waiter at a cafe who tells her the story of the Ramirez family and the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Pablo and Concha Ramirez ru...more
While on her trip she meets an elderly waiter at a cafe who tells her the story of the Ramirez family and the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Pablo and Concha Ramirez ru...more
O Regresso converteu-se no melhor livro que já li nos últimos tempo!!
A autora tem o dom de conciliar paixão, magia e música com a triste realidade da Guerra Civil espanhola, originando um enredo bastante cativante.
Adorei, sobretudo, a maneira como foram conjugadas as histórias dos quatros irmãos, onde se demonstrou a forma como cada um, à sua maneira, lidou com a dura realidade, combatendo a dor, a perda, a solidão, o desespero e o sofrimento tão patentes em seu redor. É assim um livro que n...more
A autora tem o dom de conciliar paixão, magia e música com a triste realidade da Guerra Civil espanhola, originando um enredo bastante cativante.
Adorei, sobretudo, a maneira como foram conjugadas as histórias dos quatros irmãos, onde se demonstrou a forma como cada um, à sua maneira, lidou com a dura realidade, combatendo a dor, a perda, a solidão, o desespero e o sofrimento tão patentes em seu redor. É assim um livro que n...more
Oct 05, 2009
Amanda
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Amanda by:
TLC Book Tours
In 2003, two thirty-something friends take a vacation to Granada, Spain to enjoy the town and take lessons in flamenco dancing. Sonia is in a love-less relationship with her husband and has taken refuge in her weekly flamenco classes. During her trip, she meets an elderly waiter who proceeds to divulge the torrent history of Granada and Spain during the Spanish Civil War which started in 1936 in an army coup led by General Franco. The story revolves around one family's tale, the Ramírez family w...more
I had read Hislops book The Island which I thoroughly enjoyed. This book brought to life the conflict between the Nationalists and Republicans during the Civil War in Spain. The book tells the story of Sonia and friend who go to Spain, present day, and discover flamenco - Sonia becomes quite good. She is unhappily married back in the UK and goes to Spain with her friend a couple of times - discovers a bar where she becomes intrigued by an old photo of a young Flamenco dancer. The bar owner begin...more
Amazing book in a very well written and described story. Past and present are very mixed and described.
On the present part, an English women with a failed marriage starts to dance Salsa, which brings new fresh air to her life. She and a friend decide to travel to Granada in order to practice Salsa and she finds herself actually happier and more comfortable in Spain than in England. she finds a traditional cafe and starts chatting with the owner.
The past part is told by the owner, about the famil...more
On the present part, an English women with a failed marriage starts to dance Salsa, which brings new fresh air to her life. She and a friend decide to travel to Granada in order to practice Salsa and she finds herself actually happier and more comfortable in Spain than in England. she finds a traditional cafe and starts chatting with the owner.
The past part is told by the owner, about the famil...more
I struggle to come up with an opinion about Victoria Hislop's The Return. It took me weeks to finish it, which isn't a good omen because she knows to write with a certain pace. The storyline is intriguing, because it deals with a partly forgotten war in the rest of Europe, the Spanish cival war. That by itself should offer enough drama, but the main part of the book, telling the story of the Ramirez family from Granada, feels different. As a reader I felt that I witnessed everything through a wi...more
Just like in her first book, Victoria Hislop has a unique way of transferring to you many historical information..
The sightseeing trip of two good friend ended up revealing so much and changing the life of them both...
The story of Ramirez family was truly shocking every step of the story.
Since this family was the main story i didn't expect all this things to happen but as you keep reading the tragic events that come upon this family are more and more shocking..
The author's description of the war...more
The sightseeing trip of two good friend ended up revealing so much and changing the life of them both...
The story of Ramirez family was truly shocking every step of the story.
Since this family was the main story i didn't expect all this things to happen but as you keep reading the tragic events that come upon this family are more and more shocking..
The author's description of the war...more
One of those books that should have been so much better than it was! A compelling story about the Spanish Civil War - about which most of us know so little as the 2nd World War followed so hard on its heels. But overall, the characters seemed largely stereotypes and there were rather too many coincidences to be believable. Added to which, too often the writing is very poor, cliche-ridden and far too prone to telling us what the characters felt, rather than making us feel what they felt. She didn...more
It's been a while since I've read this book. And I don't know why I decided to write the review. I guess it's probably becuase "The return" is the first book I've fallen in love with. God knows I've read a lot of books, but this one stole my breath away. The book is based on true story set in the time of Spanish Civil War. It follows events of the Ramirez familiy and their struggle with painful present.
I won't write about the story itself, cause you're already familiar with it. Reading this boo...more
I won't write about the story itself, cause you're already familiar with it. Reading this boo...more
This book was pretty good as a page turner. Though my father lived through the Spanish civil war, and I have read some history about it, Hislop gives a accurate and personalized account of it through the experiences of one family. On the downside, the story frame was a cheesy and silly romance novel full of female empowerment clichès. The writing wasn't bad but could slip into insipid at times. Both the outer frame (a woman in a loveless marriage discovers her mother's tortured but romantic hist...more
I bought this novel after attending a talk by Victoria Hislop in Haworth in July. The novel is set during a period of history I knew very little about, and it was interesting to read about the impact of national and international politics on an ordinary family. Hislop does not flinch away from the atrocities of war and the details of the work camps in particular make quite difficult reading. As with her earlier novel, The Island, Hislop is very adept at getting to the heart of a historical event...more
Firstly, not the most astoundingly well written book I have ever read. Secondly, astounding in the sense that I have learnt so much from it. When reading this book it became apparant how ignorant I was of the Spanish Civil War. I now at least, have had my eyes opened to the sheer volume of deaths and injustices of that period. The story itself is a clever and gripping one, and has reignited my love for history. The Return, is so much more than a simple 'holiday read.' I spit on those who place t...more
Traduzida para mais de vinte línguas, Victoria Hislop já conquistou um lugar no coração dos seus leitores, amantes de romances históricos. Vencedora de prémios como o Newcomer of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards 2007 e o Richard & Judy Summer Read competition, Victoria já escreveu três livros de sucesso, sendo um deles este O Regresso, número um nos bestsellers do Sunday Times. Antes de ser escritora, a autora trabalhou na publicação e como relações públicas e jornalista.
Uma das au...more
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Victoria Hislop read English at Oxford, and worked in publishing, PR and as a journalist before becoming a novelist. She is married with two children.
Her first novel, The Island, held the number one slot in the Sunday Times paperback charts for eight consecutive weeks and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Victoria was the Newcomer of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards 2007 and wo...more
More about Victoria Hislop...
Her first novel, The Island, held the number one slot in the Sunday Times paperback charts for eight consecutive weeks and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Victoria was the Newcomer of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards 2007 and wo...more
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“They wound their way through a labyrinth of streets, partly following their noses, partly the orientation of the map. Jardines, Mirasol, Cruz, Puentezuelas, Capuchinas...
Each word held its magic. They were like brushstrokes painting the landscape of the city, each one helping to build up a picture of the whole.”
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2 people liked it
Each word held its magic. They were like brushstrokes painting the landscape of the city, each one helping to build up a picture of the whole.”
“Dance halls were where young men and women conducted their courtships, and most had one clear objective: to find a spouse. Mercedes was an exception. The last thing on her mind was to find a soulmate.... When she went out on a Friday and Saturday night she had no desire for anything beyond the life-enhancing thrill of the dance.”
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1 person liked it
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