Karen Swan
As one of Spain’s richest men lies dying, his shocked family
discovers that his entire estate has been earmarked for an unknown waitress
working in a back street café in Madrid.
Welcome to an intriguing sunshine puzzler-cum-sizzler from
former fashion journalist Karen Swan, the queen of beach reads who knows how to
put romance, razzle-dazzle and a slice of real life into the long days of
summer.
The Spanish Promise is a gripping, multi-layered page-turner
full of history, mystery and heart-pounding passion as family dramas in the
past and present unfold against the dark days of the Spanish Civil War and the
rolling hills, scented orange groves and flowing rivers of sun-soaked Andalusia.
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| HOT PLOT: Karen Swan |
And it’s a tale to bask in as Swan blends renowned aspects
of Andalusian history and folklore – its bullfighting pride and prowess, its
spirit and passion, and the wounds inflicted during the bitter civil war – with
a compelling story in the present starring a young wealth counsellor from
London.
Carlos Mendoza, a Spanish multimillionaire who owns acres of
land in the Andalusian countryside, is dying. But as preparations are made for
his estate, his family is shocked to discover he is planning to give away his
wealth to a young woman they have never even heard of. Who is she and what hold
does she have over him?
Charlotte Fairfax, a wealth counsellor for the London bank
which invests Mendoza’s £750million fortune, is asked to travel to the troubled
family’s home in Spain to get to the bottom of the 98-year-old man’s mysterious
‘donation.’
It’s the week before her wedding to her ex-army fiancé
Stephen but she is confident she has time because there’s usually only one
reason an older man leaves his money to a woman and her job is to stall
Mendoza’s plan before he dies.
But in Madrid, things don’t go to plan when the woman,
45-year-old waitress Marina Quincy, denies being Carlos Mendoza’s mistress or
knowing anything about the gift. Charlotte is convinced that ‘something is not
adding up’ and decides to investigate further.
Looking for clues, Charlotte digs into the history of the
Mendoza family, who made their money out of bullfighting, and unearths a dark
and shocking past in which two people were torn apart by the Spanish Civil War.
Now their long-buried secrets are starting to reach into the
present and Charlotte – who knows in her heart of hearts that she is marrying
Stephen for the wrong reasons – begins to wonder whether love does not need to
forgive or forget in order to endure… but just two hearts to keep beating.
And as fragments from her own tragic past start ‘bubbling up
like secrets sunken in a lake,’ it threatens to overturn everything in her life
that she has worked so hard to build.
Swan’s novels always deliver so much more than just a
regulation romantic escape, and The Spanish Promise is no exception. There is a
hard edge to this beautifully created, time-slip story which weaves
effortlessly between a heartbreaking love affair caught in the firing line of
the Spanish conflict, and the mysteries which play out in contemporary Madrid.
As always, Swan’s plotting is a work of art as the two
storylines – brimming with love and loss, secrets and betrayal, honour and
tragedy – slowly unravel and converge into a bittersweet and emotional final
act.
And in trademark style, the characters are beautifully
portrayed, the plot is a rollercoaster, emotion-packed journey, and the
stunning, sun-soaked landscapes of breathtaking Andalusia and cosmopolitan
Madrid steal the show. Summer reading at its best…
(Pan, paperback, £7.99)
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