Castillos de fuego
Fireworks | Seix Barral, 2023
Castillos de fuego is a novel that contains more truth than many history books. It captures the pulse of a moment when fear nearly overcomes hope and drowns the path of hope out of devastation. A rebuilding period: the war has only ended for some, yet no one is safe; not those who groveled at the dictator’s feet, nor those who fought to overthrow him.
Madrid, 1939-45: A heartrending period in history seems to be coming to a close, but the war isn’t over for everyone.
Many are struggling to get out of a city beleaguered by hunger, poverty, and profiteering. Among them are Eloy, a disabled young man trying to save his imprisoned brother from the death penalty; Alicia, a box-office clerk at a local cinema who lost her job for following her heart; Basilio, a professor bracing for a purge of academia; Matías, a member of Franco’s Falange Party who traffics in seized goods; and Valentín, who is capable of countless vile acts so long as he can wipe clean the record of his former militance. Seamstresses, students, cops: this is a phenomenal fresco of the lives of everyday people during extraordinary times.
Ignacio Martínez de Pisón is back with an ambitious choral novel that combines a masterful and well-supported historic setting with the fascinating lives of unforgettable characters, marking the culmination of his illustrious literary career. Ignacio Martínez de Pisón’s most thrilling novel yet.
«Pisón has achieved what he set out to do and has presented one of his best novels» Domingo Ródenas de Moya, Babelia, El País
«Extraordinary [...] This thoroughly researched work meticulously recreates an image of Madrid as a city of acute poverty and fashion boutiques, of spies and hunger, and moves almost street by street through the entire life of the city [...] A portrayal of Madrid reminiscent of the work of poet Pérez Galdós, situated halfway between the work of Almudena Grandes and Pérez-Reverte [...] Castillos de fuego stands head and shoulders above any novel to hit the shops in 2023, for its ambition, its technique, its emotion, and for the sheer work that went into it. It will undoubtedly become a film or a series, so read it as soon as you can» Albert Olmos, El Confidencial
«A rich, solid and vibrant story [...] Pisón's gaze is humanistic, and the novel’s structure has something musical about it thanks to the author’s ability to include many characters. He skilfully choreographs their movements, and masterfully combines research, narration, historical tragedy and intimate devastation, in what is a formidable novel» Daniel Gascón, Letras Libres
«Pisón is the contemporary Spanish novelist who can best express different events in recent Spanish history, and does so with the greatest diligence, depth, and talent, [...] Perhaps his magnetic power comes from his ability to make us recognise ourselves in his work, without taking an overly simplistic, fanatical, or ideological approach. Pisón places himself at the service of a very broad, wide and deep truth, which explains many things that are still of concern to us» Juan Marqués, La Lectura, El Mundo
«A novel reminiscent of poet Pérez Caldos, that Baroja would have admired and that would have fascinated Delibes. It is in keeping with critical realism, of carefully written prose, an intricately described setting, round characters, and keen denunciation of their unjust hardships» Jesús Ferrer, La Razón
«Spectacular [...] One of the best books of the year» Txani Rodríguez, EITB Radio
«It is not only the great unwritten novel of the post-war period, but also the greatest novel of Martínez de Pisón, which demonstrates he is at the peak of his long literary career. Simply superb» Javier García Recio, La Opinión de Málaga
