[close] In Joanna Trollope's The Spanish Lover, Frances and Lizzie are twins, but the resemblance between them is strictly physical. Lizzie is married, a mother, the owner of a successful business. Frances is--well, people are beginning to worry about Frances now that she is almost 40. Instead of dwindling into respectable English spinsterhood, however, Frances moves to Spain and falls in love with a very married Spaniard named Luis, who, because he is Catholic, will never leave his wife. The repercussions of Frances's actions are unexpected indeed: as her life takes on new meaning and joy, the lives of her family back in England begin to crumble.

Joanna Trollope, a descendant of novelist Anthony Trollope, has inherited her esteemed ancestor's talent for storytelling. In this bittersweet tale set on the Iberian peninsula, she deftly maps the complex relationships that exist within families and the equally complicated relations between lovers. [close]