When Angela turns up in a remote Spanish mountain village, she is so tall and so thin and so pale that everyone thinks she is a ghost or a fairy or the dreadful mantequero that comes in the night and sucks the fat from your bones.
But Domingo knows better. “Soy Angela,” she said to him when they met – “I am an angel.” Only later did he realise that she was telling him her name and by then it was too late and everyone knew her as Domingo’s Angel.
This is the story of their love affair. But it is also the story of the people of the tiny mountain village – the indomitable Rosalba - shopkeeper, doctor, midwife and wise woman, who makes it her business to know everything that goes on in the village; Guillermo, the mayor, whose delusions of grandeur are rooted in his impoverished childhood; and Salva the Baker, who risked his life and liberty to give bread to the starving children.
The events in this story are based on the real experiences of the people of the White Villages in Southern Spain and their struggle to keep their communities alive through the years of war and the oppression of Franco’s rule.
Genre: FICTION / Historical
This is the most successful of my novels, with 32 reviews on Amazon.com and 30 on Amazon UK (average 4.8 stars on both sites)
The next day he took his goats to the top of the ridge near the pass and looked down on the smallest casita of Guillermo the mayor. There was a mule tethered outside and a string of washing had been hung between two almond trees. Otherwise there was no sign of life. Halfway down the slope was a large algarrobo tree. He decided it would be an ideal place for lunch.
But although he sat and watched the little house all the time as he ate his bread and cheese and olives and drank his wine, nobody came out and nothing happened. Only the mule moved along the side of the house to keep in the shade as the sun moved round. So he went to sleep.
When he woke up, someone was calling him. “Hola, goatherd!”
He squinted up into the sun and there, standing before him was an angel. It was very tall and thin and there was a fiery halo round its head. “Hello,” it said, "Soy Ángela - I am angel. I am delighted to meet you! Who are you?”
In absolute panic, Domingo shot up into a sitting position and shuffled backwards into the algarrobo tree. His head hit the hard trunk with a resounding crack and he subsided and slumped back down, feeling a little stunned.
The angel came forward into the shadow of the algarrobo tree and he realised that the halo was, in fact, hair - very long hair - falling in waves down beyond her shoulders and almost to her waist. It was exactly the colour of oranges that have dried on the tree. Her skin was so white it was almost blue and her eyes were so pale they had no colour at all. “How could they think she was a dead person?” he thought in a confused fashion. “She is obviously an angel.”
| Language | Status |
|---|---|
|
French
|
Already translated.
Translated by Mathilde Stouvenel
|
|
|
Author review: Perfect translation. |
|
Italian
|
Already translated.
Translated by Elisabetta Colona
|
|
|
Author review: Elisabetta is an excellent translator. Her work is accurate, she delivers on schedule and, most importantly she is able to capture the voice of the original work. She is a good team worker, always ready with suggestions for tackling tricky idiomatic phrases. She has been a joy to work with and I hope that she will go on to translate more of my work, |
|
Portuguese
|
Already translated.
Translated by Mariana D'Angelo
|
|
|
Author review: What a joy it has been to work with Mariana. She supplied a quality translation, well on time and liaised with me throughout to make sure that I was happy with it. Highly recommended. |
|
Spanish
|
Already translated.
Translated by Isabella Leyton
|
|
|
Author review: Isabella was a real joy to work with. She is a skilled translator- accurate and perceptive – able to reproduce nuances and find perfect parallels for idiomatic phrases. Most importantly, as a writer of fiction, I felt her translation retained my voice. Unlike many translators, she resisted the urge to ‘improve’ it. Whenever she wasn’t sure, she asked me and we decided together how a passage should be translated. This was an important book for me. My first novel, set in rural Spain – my home since 2001. Now I can share it with my friends and neighbours. I am so proud of this translation. I have learned so much from Isabella and hope she and I will work together on more translations. Jenny Twist August 2021 |
