I read this on the bus on the way to Salamanca, and it really made the journey fly by!

This is a deceptive book, I read her previous book which if I remember correctly was a Richard and Judy Summer Read, despite its beginning, this is no beach read.
It starts typically enough, unsatisfied British wife goes to Spain for a dancing holiday with an old school friend, she meets a local man who changes her life. But, this is no up market Mills and Boon, this is a darker book of a dark period in European history. Sonia is half-Spanish, but knows little of her mother's life as she died when she was long. One day in Granada she meets Miguel, owner of a local cafe, who starts to tell her the story of the previous owners of the bar. It is this story that will change Sonia, causing her to rethink her life. Of course at times the book is too "convenient", but I really enjoyed it.
I studied Spanish at uni and we even did a module on the Civil War, but it is not a topic that is often discussed. I was interested to read about the refugee children in the U.K. Here in The Return, we get to see how the war affected a family, torn apart by different political beliefs. ( )

Despite the overall predictability of the ending of this novel, it was really enjoyable and presented an interesting perspective of the Spanish Civil War. Her interpretations of flamenco are absolutely perfect and probably the best part of the book! ( )

Knowing very little about the Spanish Civil War, I had a lot of interest in reading this book. I was a little disappointed in the presentation of the historical aspect of the story, as I felt it went into too much detail about each battle. I actually skimmed over some of the descriptions. I like being educated while reading a book, but became a bit bored at some points.

I loved the descriptions of flamenco and the guitar performances - entrancing! I now want to go to Spain to see the flamenco in person. The author did
a wonderful job describing the passions and emotions involved in the dance.

I did enjoy this book very much, though I wish the entire story had been set in Spain during the period of the Civil War. I didn't feel as if the present day characters added anything, and in my opinion, were a distraction.

I'd recommend this book to friends and family. ( )

Despite the predictability of the ending, I quite liked this novel. I found the story of the Ramirez family during the Spanish Civil War to be heartbreaking. I haven't found much literature set during this time period, so for me it was quite eye-opening. One thing that bothered me was the reason for a leading character's name change -- I'm not sure why it was necessary nor why it presented a challenge to begin with.

I would definitely look for other work by Hislop based on my enjoyment of this book. ( )

There are many things to like about The Return, but also some things that were too predictable and required a willing suspension of belief. The good parts: the descriptions of flamenco were wonderful. I know so little about this dance and I learned a lot. I could tell that she definitely did her research about the Spanish Civil War, which is also an era of history I know too little about. All of my knowledge about this era comes from "The Shadow of the Wind" and the movie "Pan's Labyrinth." However, because I suspect much of her audience does not know about Spanish history, much of the book felt like a history textbook, especially the parts involving Antonio. I found myself skimming those parts because I felt that it was written from a hindsight perspective.
The ending was neat and exactly what should have happened (and exactly what I expected). Still, I loved reading about Granada and flamenco, and I hope I get to see it in person (although preferably without all that fascism).