Wolf Moon by Julio Llamazares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wolf moon by Julio Llamazares

Spanish Fiction

Original title –  Luna de lobos

Translators – Simon Deerholts and Kathryn Phillips-Miles

Source – review copy

Here I am with the second of three books from Spain from the recent Peter Owen World series. The second is a highly regarded novel by the Spanish writer Julio Llamazares, that originally came out in 1985 and was one of the first books to deal with the Spanish Maquis those rebels that carried on after Franco took over control of Spain after the civil war. LLamazares has written in a number of styles from film scripts, essays, short stories and Novels. His novels have been noted for the description and use of nature this one, in particular, remind me of a book from a few years ago that must have been influenced by this book.Out in the open also followed an escape into the backlands of Spain, in that case, a child in Wolf moon it follows four men on the run from Franco’s Guardia police.

 

 

We walk across the mountains for two long nights without stopping to rest, in search of the home we left a year ago.

We sleep by day, hidden in the undergrowth, and when night falls, when the shadows begin to stretch out across the sky, we start off again, hungry and tired.

Behind us, asleep in the depths of the moonlit valleys, we leave behind villages and hamlets, sheepfolds and farmhouses, barely discernible lights, faniting away in the night, on old river courses or under the desolate, weritcal shelter of the mountains

The harsh reality starts to set in on the four .

The book follows the lives of four Spanish Republican fighters on the run in the mountains. The four Angel, Ramiro, Juan and Gido escape to the valleys where they grew up and the mountains they now so well.Firstly they find an old mine to hide in, whilst trying to carry on the fight and survive the harsh conditions. They struggle to eat hide and avoid the family that is helping them as their homes are all so near . from getting caught. The action follows the four over a number of years..Angel is the one who ventures most often, his father helps them and says to use the mine after they are nearly caught they use a Cave in the mountains. They all venture to see family but are in danger every time they do so .This carries on until  1946, seven years after the civil war finished. Angel is the last in the mountains he chooses to return and is shocked to see the effect the civil war has had on people that have aged overnight h=in his eyes in the decades since he left to fight.

We wait atleast five minutes without moving a muscle, in complete silence, listening to the footsteps move away, first along the platform and then along the track, heading towards Ferreras.In the darknessof the office  ramiro still has his handgun trained on the station master, whoose face is now so pale it looks like a death-mask.He must have been on the verge of screaming in public.

Thewy have to rob sometimes to get by in the mountains.

The book follows the four through highs and lows and shows the tough times the Maquis faced after the war on the run and trying to survive. But also trying to keep in touch with family and stop them from being caught and involved in being caught. Then there is sheer tough nature of living high in the mountains, this is like one of those series you could almost see on the History Channel.Four men on the run, get by on scraps from family see” the men of Wolf Moon”. This is a book like Out in the open that has the surrounding at the heart of the books and the descriptions bring the world around the four men to life. A modern classic from Spain brought to us by Peter Owen only  32 years after it came out!!