Customer Reviews

Winter in Madrid

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Harry Brett, who had studied Spanish at Cambridge, has been in Spain three times: in 1931 when he went there on holiday with Bernie Piper, an old schoolfriend of his and a Communist. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Bernie went back to Spain to fight for the Republicans, and was reported missing, believed killed. Harry went back a second time in 1937, at the request of Bernie's parents, to see whether he could find out what exactly had happened to Bernie. The Republican side was then controlled by the Russians who took him for a bourgeois spy, and he was given 24 hours to leave. His third visit was in 1940. The Civil War had ended in 1939 with Franco's victory, and it was touch and go whether Spain would enter the war on Hitler's side. Harry was now, for his third visit, sent out to the British Embassy by the Secret Service, ostensibly as a translator, but actually to spy on another former school friend of his, Sandy Forsyth, who was doing business with the Falangists.

This scenario enables Sansom, moving backwards and forwards in time, to paint a vivid and evocative picture of Spain in this period: the grim Republican resistance to Franco's advancing forces during the civil war, the ruined and dilapidated state of Madrid just after the civil war under Franco's rule, the hatreds which were still blazing when the war was over. It is clear where Sansom's sympathies lie: he paints scathing pictures of the Catholic clergy, is contemptuous of the wealthy Franco supporters, and has made Bernie the novel's hero. The historical background is very well researched. The tensions on the hapless Republican side, between Liberals, Stalinists and Trotskyists are fairly well known, but Sansom is also illuminating on the tension between the victors: between the Falangists and the monarchists. So on each side everyone is plotting against everyone else. There is at least one real historical figure in the book: Sir Samuel Hoare, the British ambassador to the Franco regime at the time, anxious to keep Spain out of the Second World War and hoping to find allies in this endeavour among the monarchists.

Interwoven with Harry's activities as a spy, there are two love stories. One involves Barbara Clare, who had met and fallen in love with Bernie when she was an unpolitical Red Cross nurse during the civil war. After his disappearance she lived with Sandy, but was still trying to find out whether Bernie was not still alive - a dangerous thing to do in Franco Spain. The other involves Harry and a young left-wing Spanish woman.

The plot moves forward a little slowly in the first half of this very long book of 549 pages, but I did not mind that: my interest did not flag; and anyway the pace quickens and the tension rises about half way through. The style occasionally degenerates into clichés, but there are many memorable set pieces, including a particularly haunting one about a pack of feral dogs in the ruins of Madrid. And those who know Spain only through their summer holidays will not be familiar with the winter's biting cold, which here enters into the reader's bones.

I found this book at a mystery bookshop in London and despite the thickness decided to carry it back home. For readers of Pawel's novels of Spain during war time this book will be of interest. Although not at all similar in style this book has much stronger physical descriptions and gives a better overview of the tangled political issues of the day. The prose is repetitive and the story overlong--it seems that Sansom deserves a better editor than he had. Overall this book is compelling and has interesting twists and turns. I would read another book of historical fiction by this writer, especially about this period in history.

The fossils Sandy Forsyth loves are a wonderful metaphor for the historical period this novel spans, 1937-1947, in war-torn Spain. For fossils hold full or partial body parts in their last colossal, life-death battle. It's a time full of surprises, when the strong are shown to be weak and vice versa. Sandy's favorite fossil, a dinosaur's limb, vividly displays Spain's hopes and defeats, "...curled, as though the creature had been about to strike when it died."

First, meet Bernie Piper, a graduate of the prestigious Rookwood School in England, now lying at the foot of a knoll in the Jarama Valley, Spain in February of 1937. He's a die-hard socialist, rejecting everything he learned in school and sharing the fight against the Generalissimo Franco's fascist followers. It doesn't look like a victory Bernie will win!

Then get to really know Barbara Clare, an ex in so many ways - ex-Red Cross nurse, ex-lover of Bernie, and expatriate who is lost in her despair over possibly having lost Bernie, seeing the Spanish situation corrode into devastating poverty and death, and being lost in her relationship with Sandy Forsyth who seems bent on recreating her in his own image. But Barbara knows more than she's telling and may have a way to find out if Bernie is still alive as a prisoner of war in the brutal prisoner-of-war camps run by the rigid, ultra-Catholic Republican Guards.

Enters Harry Brett, a spy for the British Secret Service. Harry really doesn't want to be doing this job but is reluctantly enticed into spying on his old school friend, Sandy, in Madrid. Harry's recovering from brutal injuries he received while fighting in Dunkirk, barely over his posttraumatic panic attacks and barely in possession of full hearing yet. The pages that follow rivet the reader's focus in two directions.

The convoluted chronology of Spain's political situation introduces the reader to the powers supporting Franco, the Republicans and the Communists, all vying for supremacy and at the same time feeling Hitler's pincer-like approach ever-looming. Who to trust? Who to support? How to survive? One clearly sees, after a brief while, that there are no winners as each group in its fanatical fervor destroys the land they claim to love. Leaders and manipulators flourish; the poor and destitute live parasitical lives in order to get through this horrific conflict.

What Harry eventually discovers, in the second focus of this novel, is far worse than originally contemplated. Sandy's involved in something bigger and deadlier than even he realizes. As one swiftly turns these pages, he or she is stunned at the breathtaking end in which all bets are off and the plot unravels in a most unexpected manner with devastating results.

C. J. Sansom, with a well-researched, dynamic presentation, vividly presents a historical, romantic, adventurous story in a tightly plotted manner. This story deserves wide acclaim as a notable blockbuster, portraying a too often ignored but potent segment of Spain and England's history and politics.

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on February 9, 2009

Winter in Madrid is an eye-opening introduction to the abhorrent cruelties and deprivations that took place in post civil war Spain. General Franco playes his cards close to his chest while deciding whether to enter the war or retain Spain's neutrality. Hunger, fear and violence rule, although the city of Madrid has never been so quiet. People live in fear of their lives, trusting no one, and staying off the streets as much as possible.

Into this scene comes the ex- public school boy Harry Brett, a traumatized World War I veteran, recruited as a reluctant spy. The British Secret Services aim to use Harry's language skills as cover for him to spy on his old school chum, Sandy Forsyth, now a ruthless businessman working in and around Madrid.

From bombings in London to depression in Madrid, Harry seeks to make contact with Forsyth, which plunges him into an uncertain and dangerous world of the black market and political alliances.

Meanwhile another former school contemporary, Bernie, (missing presumed dead), is being searched for by his girlfriend who is now the not-so-willing girlfriend of the slick Forsyth.

The class system, black market and disappearance of innocent people continues long after the civil war has ended. Drought and destroyed infrastructure have left the people on the edge of starvation, rummaging in rubbish bags and begging. Nice "boy" Harry reluctantly learns to live, lie and survive on these streets.

This book is a page-turner, with its enjoyable action-packed twists and the moving not -so- far fetched descriptions of the times. Some of the years after the war and under Franco's regime were harder and more harrowing than the war itself.

Simpson has woven a great tale of history, love and intrigue, which blends this story into a classic tale of loyalties and new allegiances. There's no need to be a spy or war book fan to enjoy the novel; it is a satisfying read for many reasons including love entanglements, history, and emotion.

A big story, fascinating read and a great introduction to the troubled times that mark Spain's past.

The storyline, with all of its sub-plots and inter-twining of characters, is excellent. It builds very well on the memories of Harry, an accidental spy; Barbara, a Red Cross nurse; Bernie, a public school friend of Harry and the love of Barbara's life; and Sandy, a rather objectionable classmate of Harry and Bernie.

The author has obviously researched the period of Spanish history which spans the decade from 1931 to 1941 so well that the weaving of the many threads of fiction and fact are as smooth as silk.

However, this book is spoilt by the frequent irritations of fundamental errors which could have been eliminated by better editing. "'Harry,' he said in Spanish," could just have easily have been "'Harry,' he said in Turkish," or simply "Harry."

There is a passage in the middle of the book where the author must have had the word "plump" on his mind as he wrote, for it appears at least three times on each page. The there are two occurrences of heavy machine guns being "set up," which, in the same sentence, become sub-machine guns. Any soldier, and many non-military readers, would know that there is a world of difference between the two.

Then there is the half of madness where two officers switch rank. A general is demoted to colonel, and promoted back again, and a lieutenant is promoted to major, and back again. Crazy! And such negligent editing!

These irritations, for me, take the edge off what would otherwise have been a five-star-rated book.

Finally, I would not agree with the Sunday Express critic who placed Sansom in the same class as Sebastian Faulks and Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Definitely not!

By 1940 the brutal Spanish Civil War has finally ended, but much of the country remains devastated with people worried about basic sustenance needs like food, clean water, and shelter. As neutral Spain struggles to recover, the Germans blitzkrieg continues its rapid conquest of Europe and their air force daily bombs the last foe Britain. The leader of the winning side General Francisco Franco and his Fascist party considers joining the Nazis like Mussolini and Italy did.

England sends reluctant Harry Brett to spy on his old peer Sandy Forsyth, a dishonest Madrid businessman, who has close toes to Franco. Brett has doubts he is the man for the job, but journeys to Madrid to win the confidence of Sandy and through him what Franco's plans re the war with Hitler are. However, he finds Madrid nothing like the energized vibrant city that it was just a few years ago under the short lived republic when he and his close friend Bernie Piper visited the city. Instead he finds distressed hopeless people starving and dying; he wants to go home where the Nazi bombings have only increased the fortitude of his fellow Brits to defeat the German monster.

WINTER IN MADRID is a terrific historical thriller that is part espionage and part political. The storyline provides an insightful look at the aftermath of Franco's victory in the Civil War especially the political turmoil of a divided Fascist Party debating whether to join its two allies or recuperate from the bloody internal fight. C.J. Sansom places a powerful spotlight on battered Spain as WW II has devastated much the rest of the continent while the Battle of Britain seems inevitable and would enable Franco to claim like Mussolini he was on the victorious side.

Harriet Klausner

Having known very little about Spain just before and during the beginning of WWII, I enjoyed the pace and accuracy of the story. I didn't find it to be slow as some have commented. After reading this and several works of Arturo Perez-Reverte,I am ready for a trip to Spain. WINTER IN MADRID is a realistic and vivid story. I have found a great author and look forward to reading everything he has written.

I have simply adored Sansom's historical mystery series about Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer in Henry VIII's England who tries ever-so-desperately to avoid political complications. Among the author's many writing strengths in those books are an awesome ability to show every side of an issue in an even-handed way, and to show difficult political choices with very human repercussions: monks displaced by King Henry's dissolution of the monasteries, or the role of upper-class women during that time. Since I'd run out of books to read in that series, I turned my attention to Sansom's other books, hoping that he was equally brilliant in a different place-and-time.

He's good. He's very good. But this (standalone) book isn't quite up to the earlier series. It's nowhere near "disappointing" -- it's just not going to be among the books that I insist you MUST read.

One reason may be that Winter in Madrid is set in a time much closer to our own. Events take place from 1937 to 1940 in Madrid, Spain, encompassing both the Spanish revolution and the early part of World War II, from the English point of view. The primary character is Harry Brett, an upper-class chap who's still recovering from his experiences at Dunkirk, and who is sent to Madrid to buddy-up with an old school chum, Sandy Forsyth, whose business activities just might be throwing the English-Spain politics off-balance. In a parallel story that doesn't take too long to weave into Brett's, English Red-Cross nurse is looking for evidence that her old boyfriend (ANOTHER old school friend of Brett's) may have survived the bloody battlefields of the Jarama.

I've somehow found myself reading a lot of stories recently about World War II, but in this book the history which I was embarrassed NOT to know was the Spanish Civil War. I'm sure I read a few paragraphs about it during high school, but -- well, my excuse is that I took two years of Advanced Placement American History, so I skipped World History. (My bet is that I *still* wouldn't have learned anything about the Spanish Civil War and Franco -- every teacher was ready to fast-forward to World War II. I wonder if English students have a different emphasis.)

Anyway, Sansom did his usual good job of creating characters, place, and history. He certainly fulfilled my expectation that he could take a not-overreported time of history and bring it to life. And overall I did care what happened. However, there were times when I felt as though I was pushing myself to finish this novel, rather than having it drag me from page to page the way that I'm used to Sansom's books do... and I'm not quite sure why. I like the characters. I may not adore them, but I like them. And I did want to find out how the story turned out. But somehow the sparkle in this book is just a BIT less bright than the other series. That may be my fault, however; I'm not sure you'll feel the same way.

I read a lot of historical fiction, spy and mystery stuff being two fields that work well alongside historical novels. I gather C.J. Sansom has a series of historical novels set during the reign of Henry VIII that are more or less mysteries. That's not an era in which I have a lot of interest (I tend to prefer my women with their heads attached) but I came across this book and bought it, more out of whim than anything else. It turned out to be a wise purchase on my part.

The story follows three men who were at a public school together. Harry, Sandy, and Bernie essentially went their separate ways after graduating, though they Harry and Bernie went to Spain together in the early 30s, and Harry went there again looking for Bernie after he went missing in action during the Spanish Civil War, fighting on the side of the Republic. Bernie was an out-and-out Communist; Sandy an amoral schemer whose bishop father had disowned him; and Harry a wealthy shop-owner's son who's essentially agnostic politically, but who speaks fluent Spanish.

So now it's 1940. Harry has been invalided out of the British army after Dunkirk, having lost most of his hearing in one ear. British intelligence approaches him with a proposal: go to Spain and reunite with Sandy, who is now working as a businessman in Franco's Spain. Sandy apparently has discovered a source of gold somewhere in the Spanish mountains, and the British government is worried that if Franco is able to exploit it, Spain might become less dependant on imports, and as a result might join Hitler's attempt to conquer Europe and eventually the world.

When Harry gets to Spain, he discovers that not only is Sandy there, but Bernie's girlfriend Barbara is living with Sandy. This is odd, because Bernie was a Communist and fought for the Republic, while Sandy is a businessman who's allied with the other side. In addition, the two young men despised each other in school, barely were on speaking terms. Harry got along with both, and was/is friends with Barbara, but he can't figure out what she's doing, and as the book goes along and her behavior becomes more mysterious, Harry becomes more confused.

Eventually, Harry discovers Barbara is trying to learn whether Bernie was actually killed during the war (as was originally reported) or whether instead he was just captured, and for some reason not repatriated at the end of the conflict. As the story propels itself along, Harry must confront this and other issues while stringing Sandy along and acting as if he likes him.

This is a very interesting novel, well-written and fun. I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it.

Set in 1940-41, this is a political novel in the very best sense. It offers a taste of the hardship and fear gripping Madrid under its new Fascist dictator, Francisco Franco. It is a novel that thoughtfully considers what can happen to an ordinarily decent man in wartime. Harry Brett, Sandy Forsyth and Bernie Piper who were together at school are the players. The underlying question of Spain's neutrality has the British worried. While Spain considers its options, Harry Brett is recruited by British intelligence to discover if Sandy Forsyth has found gold reserves that will strengthen Franco's hand. Bernie Piper vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama. An attempt to rescue him becomes a dangerous game which draws the strands of this saga together. A first rate thriller.