Her memories . . . reveal a woman who has learned to open from
pain, rather than shut down around it. Her vast experience enriches her
language and logic.Los Angeles Times Book Review
Lucia Graves is a double expatriate in a single body . . .
someone in whom Britain and Spain have always coexisted and contended. . .
. Her writing is brainy and at times ravishing.New York
Times
A work of art.
A multifamily portrait as essential to understanding the reversals of present-day Spain as Orwell's Homage to Catalonia.
Graves's writing is brainy and at times ravishing.
A hybrid of biography, memoir and travel essay, this is a portrait of life in the dazzling cornucopia of Spain. Graves is the only daughter of poet Robert Graves's first marriage. Born in Devon, England, in 1943, she was raised on the Spanish island of Majorca, and her memoir deals mainly with her experiences growing up in post-civil war Spain under Franco's regime. However dominating that rule was, her enchanting village escaped much of it, enveloping Lucia and her brothers in a safe haven marked by beautiful landscapes, rich folklore and a vibrant linguistic tradition. The book is loosely chronological, spanning her life and ties to Catalonia, the region of northeastern Spain near France and Andorra, whose principal city is Barcelona. Growing up there among the devoutly Catholic and unmistakably Spanish, she absorbed many of their beliefs and customs, although she herself was neither Catholic nor Spanish. She reveres the language of Catalan, attributing its energy and beauty to its speakers. After studies at the International School in Geneva and Oxford, she returned to Spain and started a family in the Barcelona area. Her status as a foreigner in a familiar land gives her a unique perspective on Spain's identity--one that is frequently caught between antiquated Franco-era customs, the repressed society it yielded and the modernization brought about by political change. Written in fluid, conversational prose, this memoir will draw and captivate both readers of memoirs and those who enjoyed Chris Stewart's Driving over Lemons. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
This memoir by Graves, translator and daughter of English poet Robert Graves, relates her childhood in Majorca in the late 1940s, her years at boarding school in Geneva and at Oxford, and her subsequent married life in Madrid and Barcelona. The narrative begins with her return visit to Barcelona for her mother's operation in 1996 and proceeds with recollections of the past as well as meditations on Spanish and Catalan culture and history, language and translation, and the status of Spanish women. Although the book offers some interesting details of life in Spain under Franco, much of it suffers from distant generalizations regarding the lives of others. Thus, while the author frequently speculates about Spanish women's relationships with their boyfriends or husbands, her own husband and children remain barely visible throughout the book. Many incidents seem to be included only to allow for digressions, resulting in a disjointed narrative. Overall, a mediocre and unengaging read with a few stimulating moments; not recommended.--Anna Youssefi, Rice Univ. Libs., Houston Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Graves, the daughter of poet Robert Graves, was born and raised on the island of Majorca after the Spanish Civil War. She remembers her life and its three main influences: the literary and intellectual Victorian English tradition of her family; the Catalan and Mediterranean folkways of her village; and the Catholic and fascist at convent school in the island's capital Palma. When and why, she asks, does multiculturalism become permanent exile from everywhere. The 1999 edition was published by Virago in Britain. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A luminous memoir of an unusual life in an unlikely place.
