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 the Granada’s shocking past, but ordering a simple cup of coffee in a quiet cafe will lead her into the extraordinary tale of a family’s fight to survive the horror of the Spanish Civil War.

Seventy years earlier, in the Ramirez family’s cafe, Concha and Pablo’s children relish an atmosphere of hope. Antonio is a serious young teacher, Ignacio a flamboyant matador, and Emilio a skilled musician. Their sister, Mercedes, is a spirited girl whose sole passion is dancing, until she meets Javier and an obsessive love affair begins. But soon Spain is a country in turmoil. In the heat of civil war, the family is torn apart, with the borthers on opposite sides of the conflict and Mercedes trapped on the wrong side of the line, cruelly separated from her beloved Javier. Everyone must take a side, and choose whether to submit, to fight or to attempt escape…