A novel which starts out with Mair, who is searching for her long lost grandfather. Her journey takes her from Cardiff to Torre del Burros in Spain and to an Austrian town. There she discovers, not only her own family's secrets, but those of the intriguing but puzzling Hector. Digging deep into the past unsettles both Mair and Hector, as many things are brought to the surface...

Nofel sy'n adrodd stori Mair, a'i chais i ddod o hyd i'w thad-cu colledig. Â o Gaerdydd i Torre del Burros yn Sbaen ac yna i dref yn Awstria. Yno y mae'n darganfod, nid yn unig hanes ei theulu ei hun, ond hefyd agweddau ar hanes teulu Hector - gŵr diddorol ond hynod y mae'n ei gyfarfod. Mae'r hyn a ddarganfyddir yn anesmwytho Mair a Hector, wrth i bethau cudd ddod i'r golwg.

The front cover of this novel has under its title the assertion, 'War brings out the best and the worst in us . . . ', which sounds like a quotation from someone who has personally seen or experienced these two extremes. I haven't been able to trace it: it may be the author herself establishing for us the theme which runs through this compellingly readable book. It may even be a quotation from one of the novel's characters which I have failed to pick up, though the absence of authorial quotation marks reassures me a little.

Every character in this book is affected by the Spanish Civil War, even those who were not yet born in 1936–39. Indeed some 60 years are covered by the narration, and three generations of characters feature, each generation being represented by one person in particular: by Pilar the grandmother, who suffers from and then engages in sexual exploitation, and by her daughter Adelaida, whose son is the Hector of the title. At the same time there is the Welsh connection, covering the same 60 years, represented by Geraint (his Spanish comrades call him Geronimo), one of the many foreign volunteers to the republican cause, and by his granddaughter Mair whose arrival in the town of Torre de Burros (where most of the 'present-day' action takes place) and meeting with Hector trigger off the novel's action. Mair is looking for traces of her lost grandfather and Hector offers to help her.

We therefore have a present-day action featuring Mair's search and the developing relationship between the two young persons, interspersed with flashbacks to the time of the War, represented by the 'dreams' of the aged, embittered Pilar (hers are remarkably clear and thoroughly chronological 'dreams', making manifest the reasons for her bitterness) and by the letters written home by Geraint, now in Mair's hands. Pilar's 'dreams' (the main source of information about the past) and Geraint's letters are printed in italics, so that we know at once that we are being transported back to the troubled times of the War. Pilar, in fact, vies with Hector for the role of the novel's central character: the italics serve in part, perhaps, to put her in her place. The in-between times are simply recalled, chiefly by Adelaida, but are just as important despite being revealed to us either in passing or belatedly in the last two chapters where they can create a suitably resounding impact and remind us of the aphorism on the cover.

The complex story, with its horrors and ecstasies through the years, retains throughout a vitality and a variety which explain the maturing of the characters, their actions, reactions and relationships. The horror and the heroism of war are there, and also the events and incidents of a less violent, less disturbed but equally compelling later time. This is a thoroughly absorbing piece of writing, achieved by a vivid but disciplined and controlled imagination, and obviously underpinned by much historical research.

John Trethewy

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.