3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Novel set in an unusual war shows characters' humanity, May 25, 2009
This review is from: A Valley of Betrayal (Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War, Book 1) (Paperback)
The Spanish Civil War, though a mere regional conflict, drew world attention and served as a dress rehearsal for World War II. But since one side was Fascist (and actively backed by the Nazis) and the other was Marxist (backed by the Soviet Union), the average American has difficulty sympathizing with either. Nevertheless, in "A Valley of Betrayal" Tricia Goyer blazes past her readers' uneasiness with the conflict through vivid characters who merit our understanding, though not necessarily our approval.
Ritter Adler joined the German forces in Spain to win a woman's love. But he finds severe competition for her hand in a man named Xavier--and in the brutal war itself.
Sophie Grace, a young artist from Boston, came to Spain in hopes of finally wedding her fiance, Michael. But is Michael as trustworthy as he claims?
Boycotting the German-sponsored Olympic games, Philip Stanford's longtime best friend, Communist sprinter Attis Brody, means to run in the socialist International Workers' Games in Barcelona, Spain--with Philip along as his trainer. When the war breaks out, can protective Philip see that Attis makes it home alive?
Deion Clay, an African-American from Mississippi, has experienced racial discrimination--and even racial violence--firsthand; so for him the Communist rallying cry of "Equality!" holds a special appeal. But after he travels to Spain to fight for his Marxist beliefs, will he regret his choice?
Father Manuel Garcia, a native of the independent-minded Basque region in northern Spain, only wants to minister to his people, though some of them see him as a coward. When the war converges on his hometown of Guernica, will he, like the other characters, be forced to prove his courage in a way he never wanted?
This book is amazingly superior to Goyer's (good) World War II series, despite--or perhaps because of--the Spanish Civil War's complicated nature. Goyer includes a felt historical and cultural tapestry that is very impressive. Perhaps Deion's background is a bit exaggerated--I haven't done enough studying on the day-to-day realities of segregation to be certain whether one person could have seen as much as he apparently did--but his background does allow us to see the person beneath the Communist armband. That seems to have been Goyer's goal: to prove the humanity of those involved in the Spanish Civil War to an American audience. And, in my opinion, she has succeeded.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A highwayscribery Book Report, January 25, 2010
Tricia Goyer, a writer with a slew of novels about World War II to her credit, stumbled upon the Spanish Civil War in researching an earlier book. She'd read about an American pilot who had crashed in Nazi-occupied Belgium and applied survival skills picked up as a volunteer in the Iberian conflict.
Like many of us, she became smitten with both the conflict and with the country itself and dedicated her efforts to crafting A Valley of Betrayal (Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War, Book 1)which would appear to be the first in a series.
the highway scribe came across Goyer during one of his frequent forays onto the Web site of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) where students, Hispanophiles, sectarian communists, tried and true veterans of the International Brigades, and eminent scholars like Paul Preston and Fraser Otanelli trade-off information, requests, and arguments on a "list" overseen by New York University.
Or something like that; it's a little hard to figure out.
Goyer joined the list chatter last year, asking for a little help and got some rough handling due to the fact her publisher, Moody, is a "Christian" editorial house.
A confirmed, confessed and convinced non-believer, the scribe was inclined to smirk as well, but opted for a more gracious approach since he's found in his long career that writers are mostly self-involved and incapable of kindness toward others of their craft.
Goyer responded to the scribe's suggestions, whatever they were, by purchasing his book "Vedette," which, you know, represented the total for sales in 2006.
Soon thereafter, too soon it seemed, she announced on the ALBA list that she'd finished the work. the scribe contacted her and she sent a free copy.
The Christians are winning in highwayscribery's book.
Despite the short turnover time, Goyer has done an admirable job in tackling a muddled, now distant, and controversial subject. Her capacity for research and historical reconstruction is rather remarkable as she renders lively and detailed portrayals of revolutionary Barcelona, Madrid under siege, the horrors of the front, and the tragedy of Guernica.
That's a full plate and it is achieved with a simple, straightforward style that doesn't try too hard, but successfully pulled the scribe into her dramatization.
"Valley's" primary character is Sophie Grace, a young woman hurrying to Spain on the trail of a photographic journalist named Michael with whom she is in love and hopes to marry. Michael's betrayal of her affections is mirrored in the larger conflict around Sophie and deepens her confusion as she looks for a rock to lean on in a country where the very earth moves beneath her feet and few people are who or what they claim to be.
The supporting characters include Deion, an African-American volunteer to the International Brigades; Father Manuel, a Basque priest from Guernica trying to reconcile his support for the "godless" Republic with the savagery of Franco's Catholic crusade; Philip, an American track runner pulled into the conflict by the anti-Fascist impulses of his teammate Atticus; and Ritter, a Nazi pilot with the Condor Legion.
Leading Sophie on her path to self-realization as a painter of propaganda posters for the Republican cause and amateur nurse on the front, Goyer pulls each thread taught to the culmination at Guernica where distinct literary fates await.
Goyer is especially good at spreading layers of increasing narrative desperation in the Republican ranks which seemingly choke the reader as much as those on the ill-fated Loyalist side.
There is an inherent problem with writing literature about the Spanish Civil War in that the conflict was exceedingly complex and hardly anybody knows anything about it anymore. So there is an unavoidable didactic touch, very light, spread throughout early parts of the book that will serve neophytes, but grate on more seasoned buffs.
As to the "Christianity" contained within the tale, it is hard to see where it amounts to anything more than what you find in most literature, faith playing the role it does in so many lives. And Goyer comes alive when she treats the ethical and moral questions confronting both she and her characters. She does it with intelligence and a knowing hand without coming off preachy/creepy.
The unbeliever may cringe somewhat at Sophie's final realization that her blown-off-course fate in Spain was part of "God's plan," but the scribe confesses to hearing that from some of the dearest people in his life, all of whom accept him in spite of the iconoclasm and brazen atheism.
Which is to say this story fits into the story of the world, and certainly into that of Spain circa the 1930s.
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