The Frost on His Shoulders

"Fuses a traditional rural folk tale with the kind of political allegory popular around the time of the Spanish Civil War . . . A satisfying twist" ( The Wall Street Journal). In 1930s Spain, in an isolated valley of the Pyrenees, an aging teacher reconstructs a bloody and tragic event that seemed destined to remain forever hidden behind a wall of silence. He alone can penetrate appearances and grasp the iron laws determining the lives of all those who live in this place—this valley where nature is miserly and leaves little room for poetic contemplation or an excess of feelings. He alone remembers his protégé, Ramón, a shepherd, who, no more than a child, fell in love with Alba, the only daughter of the region's most powerful and influential landowner. The rich and powerful conspire to thwart the love between Ramón and Alba, and in doing so they incite a feud that will extend beyond all reason. Thus begins a vigorous, dramatic story of rebellion and a heroic quest for freedom that "offers both passionate, romantic derring-do and a vivid picture of class-driven mob hysteria" ( The Wall Street Journal). "A story that is sweeping in its narrative and evocative in its detail . . . The sort of romance to stir the coldest of hearts." — The Irish Times