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María Dueñas

Author of The Time in Between

15 Works 2,825 Members 157 Reviews 2 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: Maria Duenas at the 2012 National Book Festival By Slowking4 - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21582328

Works by María Dueñas

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Members

Reviews

Couldn't finish this book. Figured if I wasn't interested by page 400, it probably wasn't going to happen in the next 200 pages.
 
Flagged
ellink | 108 other reviews | Jan 22, 2024 |
Sira
María Dueñas Vinuesa
Publicado: 2021 | 601 páginas
Novela Histórico Intriga
Serie: Sira Quiroga #2

Cuatro destinos. Dos misiones. Una mujer.Vuelve la protagonista de El tiempo entre costuras, caminando con paso firme hacia la madurez.La segunda gran guerra ha llegado a su fin y el mundo emprende una tortuosa reconstrucción. Concluidas sus funciones como colaboradora de los servicios secretos británicos, Sira afronta el futuro con ansias de serenidad. No lo logrará, sin embargo. El destino le tendrá preparada una trágica desventura que la obligará a reinventarse, tomar sola las riendas de su vida y luchar con garra para encauzar el porvenir.Entre compromisos, intrigas y hechos históricos que marcarán una época, Jerusalén, Londres, Madrid y Tánger serán los escenarios por los que transite. En ellos afrontará desgarros y reencuentros, cometidos arriesgados, hondos sentimientos y la experiencia de la maternidad.Sira Bonnard —antes Sira Quiroga, antes Arish Agoriuq— ya no es la inocente costurera que nos deslumbró entre patrones y mensajes clandestinos, pero su atractivo permanece intacto.Vuelve Sira, carismática e inolvidable.… (more)
 
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libreriarofer | 6 other reviews | Oct 27, 2023 |
For more reviews and bookish posts please visit https://www.ManofLaBook.com

Sira by María Dueñas is a sequel to the international best-seller The Time in Between. The story follows seamstress turned spy Sira Quiroga post World War II.

Sira Quiroga, no longer a spy, married a British diplomat and is living in Jerusalem under the British Mandate. When her husband, Marcus Logan, dies in a bomb planted by Jewish extremists, she returns to Spain adopting the identity of a journalist following Eva Perón’s Rainbow tour.

Sira’s street smart and bravery are put to the test in Franco’s Madrid, and later on in Tangier, Morocco. With danger along the way, she witnesses some important historical events.

I was excited to read this book because I tremendously enjoyed The Time in Between. The story takes place in several places I’ve been to, and am familiar with their history.

Sira by María Dueñas, reads much like a history book instead of a novel. There is a lot of information thrown at the reader, the plot is dull, and the narrative is repetitive. There are no insights and the whole story-line only moves forward based on coincidences and implausible situations. Some strange tangent about a piece of jewelry lost by María Eva Duarte de Perón, better known as just Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita, takes a quarter of the book and I still have no idea why it would be such a big deal. This plot line worked in The Three Musketeers, but here it was just tedious.

The author’s talent shines through, there are great passages here and there, but I had to trudge through hundreds of pages to find them. There’s no focus or a clear objective in the plot, each of the four parts has very little to do with the previous part.
The whole book simply doesn’t flow, and worst – it’s boring.

Instead of connecting, once again, with Sira, I found myself just “reading to finish”. Once finishing a chapter, I found myself putting the book down and not excited to get back into it – every chapter one after the other. After reading three-quarters of the book I finally put it down.
… (more)
 
Flagged
ZoharLaor | 6 other reviews | Oct 13, 2023 |
Amazing in every way. Spain, the Civil War, finding a way to survive as a woman alone as a seamstress. Wonderful in every way.
 
Flagged
sharishaw49 | 108 other reviews | Sep 20, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

Daniel Hahn Translator
Kari Risvik Translator
Evert Janssen Translator
Elie Kerrigan Translator
Nick Caistor Translator
Lorenza Garcia Translator
Nadia Ramer Translator
Elena Rolla Translator
Petra Zickmann Translator

Statistics

Works
15
Members
2,825
Popularity
#9,081
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
157
ISBNs
183
Languages
19
Favorited
2

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