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Mision olvido (Spanish Edition) by María…
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Mision olvido (Spanish Edition) (edition 2013)

by María Dueñas (Author)

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3601970,886 (3.01)8
"A talented college professor in Madrid, Blanca Perea seems to have it all. But her world is suddenly shattered when her husband of twenty years leaves her for another woman. Questioning the life she once had and whether she truly knows herself, Blanca resolves to change her surroundings. She accepts what looks like a boring research grant in California involving an exiled Spanish writer who died decades ago. Anxious to leave her own troubled life behind, she is gradually drawn into his haunted world, with its poignant loves and unfulfilled ambitions"--Amazon.com.… (more)
Member:LauraM77
Title:Mision olvido (Spanish Edition)
Authors:María Dueñas (Author)
Info:Temas de Hoy (2013), 511 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:to-read

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The Heart Has Its Reasons by María Dueñas

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» See also 8 mentions

Spanish (7)  English (7)  Catalan (2)  Dutch (2)  All languages (18)
Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
An interesting story of the early days of European settlement in California encased in a story of love, self-discovery and research. ( )
  ElizabethCromb | Jun 3, 2018 |
I loved "The Time In Between" and was looking forward to reading this book. Oh was I disappointed. While Duenas' writing is superb, I found the story lines to be flat and often unbelievable. Additionally, the translation was unreliable. So sad. ( )
  cacky | Jun 27, 2016 |
When her husband of twenty years abandons her for a woman only a few years older than their son, Spanish linguistics professor, Blanca Perera is desperate to get away and accepts a temporary fellowship position at a Californian university. Blanca’s task is to sort through the private and professional papers of the late Andrea Fontana, a fellow Spaniard, tragically killed in a car accident decades years previously. While Blanca initially cares little for the work, she finds herself increasingly fascinated by the life of the enigmatic professor, and his living protege, Daniel Carter.

The Heart Has its Reasons is a character driven novel exploring the themes of grief, loss, recovery and starting anew. Unfortunately I thought Blanca was a fairly bland character, passive and introverted, which is uncomfortable when the story is told largely from a first person narrative. Daniel Carter was perhaps the more interesting character, and I did enjoy reading about his time in mid century Spain.

The story does contain a hint of intrigue involving Daniel Carter’s motives, academic rivalry and a ‘missing’ Mission, and Blanca’s task plays into these threads.

As I know little about Spain, or its political or social history, I did find some of the information interesting, particularly regarding the Spanish Revolution and the influence of Spanish culture in America.

Despite some lovely writing I really struggled with The Heart Has it’s Reasons. The tone was overly formal at times, possibly a fault of the translation. I also found the pace to be quite slow and was tempted to skim more than once.

Just barely an okay read for me. ( )
  shelleyraec | Dec 23, 2014 |
I won this book free through goodreads and this is my honest opinion. I personally did not enjoy this book like i thought i would. Parts of it read off weird, and I believe it is translated. It is also seemed kinda slow paced and the plot had parts where it felt like it was on a completely different path then the rest of the book. It has a small usage of words and phrases and overall didn't have a lot of in depth interest. The characters were alright, but not very well described. ( )
  Suzanne.Marble | Nov 26, 2014 |
3.5 When Blanche's husband of twenty dive years leaves her for another woman, she is blindsided. A linguistic professor in Spain with two grown sons she applies for and gets a fellowship in California sorting the papers of an obscure professor from Spain, who never returned to, his native country. There she meets Daniel, another professor who has secrets and emotional pain of his own.

I really enjoyed Daniel's story and loved reading about his time in Spain, the food and the culture. The papers that Blanche is sorting lead her to the professors love and investigation of California's twenty one missions. Trying to find information about a possible further mission not commonly known, Blanche and Daniel connect. This mission may have an important impact on a current issue.

I loved the descriptions of the mission they visit, "But the aesthetics were there, the soul and structure, with its humble wooden cross, rough on the top part. A metal plaque summarized its history, intimate and poignant in its sobriety."

A woman finding her way forward by looking backward into the life of another from the past. She comes to understand that not everything is rational and sometimes "The heart has its reasons."

Arc from Netgalley. ( )
  Beamis12 | Nov 16, 2014 |
Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (6 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Dueñas, Maríaprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Heuvel, Henk van denTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Janssen, EvertTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kerrigan, ElieTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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A Pablo Dueñas Vinuesa, mio fratello, per tutto quello che lui sa che gli devo.
A tutti coloro che combattono ogni giorno nelle aule con entusiasmo e con impegno: i miei colleghi, i miei maestri, i miei amici.
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A volte la vita ci cade addosso, pesante e fredda come una palla di piombo. Ebbi questa percezione aprendo la porta del mio ufficio. Così vicino, così caldo, così mio. Prima.
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"A talented college professor in Madrid, Blanca Perea seems to have it all. But her world is suddenly shattered when her husband of twenty years leaves her for another woman. Questioning the life she once had and whether she truly knows herself, Blanca resolves to change her surroundings. She accepts what looks like a boring research grant in California involving an exiled Spanish writer who died decades ago. Anxious to leave her own troubled life behind, she is gradually drawn into his haunted world, with its poignant loves and unfulfilled ambitions"--Amazon.com.

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