New Release
Blood On The Sand – La Inglesa y el Torero
A novel about an idealistic young English girl who goes to Spain in the 1960s and becomes involved with a bullfighter . . .
Author’s Note:
In 1965 I worked as an interpreter for Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre researching their global best seller “…Or I’ll DressYou In Mourning” – the life story of the iconic matador, Manuel Benitez ‘El Cordobés’.
BLOOD ON THE SAND takes the reader on a journey through the passion, drama, heat and dust of Andalucia as Cassi Samuels, an idealistic young English girl, struggles to love her womanizing anti-hero with disastrous results.
Available to download now on Amazon Kindle.
Review
Translated from the blog: ‘Devoradora de libros’ written by Rusta, Barcelona – 2nd June 2010
“LA INGLESA Y EL TORERO”
Editorial: Ediciones B ? Pages: 352 ? ISBN: 9788466643122 ? Price: 18 € ?? “La Inglesa y el Torero” or “Blood on the Sand” as it will be known in English is a new release from Spanish publishers Ediciones B this spring.
Those who do not usually read romantic novels may find this book catching their attention as the review on the back cover indicates that it goes beyond the typical love story.
Even those who are not keen on bullfighting might have their curiosity piqued and indeed my own suspicions were not misguided: I enjoyed reading it as it contains a lot more than the traditional romantic novel usually does.
The maiden and the matador
We are in the early ’60s. Cassi Samuels is an English girl of eighteen who lives with her parents and older sister in London. She’s an innocent ingénue and one thing is clear: losing her virginity to just anyone is not on her agenda.
On a trip to Spain, she discovers the passionate world of bullfighting. On returning home, she covers her bedrooms walls with bullfight posters as if they were film stars. A little later, she flunks her exams on purpose and convinces her parents to allow her to complete her language studies through travel. Her destination: Andalucía.
Fate introduces her to a Canadian writer commissioned to write the biography of Rafael Romero “El Macho”, THE bullfighter of the day. As Cassi speaks Spanish, she is employed as interpreter which allows her to meet her idol.
But things do not according to plan: although he is attracted to her, it is only to add her to his list of conquests before treating her with the utmost contempt. In any other circumstances, this should have sent her scurrying home but Cassi is inexperienced and thinks what has happened is normal. She is therefore prepared to give him another chance, especially when her very traditional family disinherit her after she tells them she’s in love with a bullfighter.
Locked away on his ranch expecting their child, she becomes the victim of a violent husband who has no intention of ever being faithful.
Sentiments rise to the surface
What captivated me most about this novel is without doubt the intensity of the characters’ feelings. It is a novel of extremes: on the one hand we have “El Macho” being cruel and cool, prepared to achieve his goals even if it means harming others – and on the other hand we have the young Cassi, naive, sweet and easy to manipulate often seeming silly for not opening her eyes.
There is no middle ground. The other characters are either charming or hateful and it is impossible not to side with Cassi and wish with all your heart that her situation improves.
This novel is very dramatic. It transcends the normal romantic genres which often seem superficial and trite with over-idealized love stories.
In this book, great passion is transmitted to the reader which shows that the author has achieved her purpose. The book becomes a perfect choice for those looking to enjoy a good read that has feelings and conflicts between the protagonists.
It is an original story and will not deceive the reader as do many similar works. I considered this one better.
Importantly, the intensity of the feelings grows as the story progresses. When things start to seem predictable, something happens that you don’t expect and that grips your heart or gives you butterflies in the stomach, according to whether it’s a sad or happy time.
The author retains the reader’s attention and knows when and how to enhance the highlights. I often thought “too much melodrama” while reading, but I don’t think this is a defect: it is sometimes good to read a book that reflects the best and worst of human passions.
A good read to pass the time
As well as the feelings, the other noteworthy aspect of this novel is its entertainment value. It hooks you with its simple yet fluid style and the chapters are generally quite short. It has everything a read should have to pass the time which is not a bad thing: many people only read for entertainment and escape from reality. “La Inglesa y el torero” achieves this.
Even so, I’m not going to praise it to the skies. You must not approach this book with high expectations because, despite its strengths, it remains a simple story despite being full of extremes of good and evil especially in the personality of the characters. If we start to analyze it from the point of view of a demanding reader, we are likely to find fault, and although catalogued as ‘romance’, don’t let that fool you. Don’t expect a great work, but do expect to enjoy it as it will pass the time in the most entertaining way.
One point I’d really like to make is the fact that there is plenty of action and the story never stagnates. It has surprising twists, which in this genre are not always easy to find. It’s impossible to get bored.
Finally, I must mention something that happened while reading and this rarely happens to me. I put faces to the characters, faces of people known to exist in real life.
I saw the heroine as a blonde angelic type in the style of Scarlett Johansson or Kate Winslet; Rafael Romero’s manager had the face of Don Pablo from “Cuéntame cómo pasó” ; the Venezuelan bullfighter is pure Carlos Baute in voice and appearance – I even remembered his song lyrics while reading! Penelope Cruz would be perfect as Maria Garcia Lopez, the neurotic slightly crazy mistress of the bullfighter. Strangely, the torero protagonist is the only one I could not cast with a specific face, though I did see him in my mind’s eye.
If this were a film adaptation, it could be a pretty decent movie. The book is very visual and precisely because it is full of passion, it would work well on screen.
Conclusion
“The English Girl and the Bullfighter” was a pleasant surprise for me. Not the soap opera of the century, but despite being listed as ‘romance’, it goes a little beyond the clichés of this genre. This is a work full of passion that never leaves the reader bored. The plot twists take place at the right time; the story is very well constructed. I enjoyed the clichés of gypsy Spain and the extremism of the characters. Formally, these are not positives, but I found them entertaining just the same.
In short, this is a highly recommended option if you are a demanding reader and enjoy books full of feeling.
