- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Pan; Main Market edition (11 July 2019)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 152900618X
- ISBN-13: 978-1529006186
Synopsis
One of Spain’s richest men is dying. But as he prepares his estate, his family is shocked to discover he is making plans to give away his wealth to a young woman they have never even heard of. Who is she and what hold does she have over him?
Charlotte Fairfax is asked to travel to the troubled family’s home in Spain to get to the bottom of the mysterious bequest. It’s the week before her wedding but she is confident she has time – there’s only one reason an older man leaves his money to a beautiful woman, isn’t there?
But in Madrid, things don’t go to plan when the woman denies knowing anything about the gift. Is she lying? Looking for clues, Charlotte digs into the prominent family’s history and unearths a dark and shocking past in which two people were torn apart by conflict. But now, their long-buried secrets are starting to reach into the present and Charlotte starts to wonder whether love does not need to forgive or forget in order to endure – but just needs two hearts to keep beating.
Review
Every summer I look forward to the latest read by Karen Swan, and this year she takes us to sunny Spain in The Spanish Promise. Charlotte Fairfax is a wealth counsellor and is sent to Madrid by a rich client whose father is leaving the bulk of his inheritance to an unknown young woman, Marina Quincy,, but no one knows why. Set in the present day and in 1937 this book is part mystery, part historical with a touch of romance which combine to make and excellent read.
I am a huge fan of Karen Swan and every read her summer and Christmas reads. Her books are always engaging with memorable and likeable characters and interesting plot lines. Charlotte is getting married in a weeks time when her client requests she go to Madrid to make contact with Marina and find out why she is being left such a large inheritance from a man she doesn’t know. The obvious conclusions are drawn, but the plot takes a whole different turn when the mystery is solved. Charlotte puts her career ahead of her wedding plans and after meeting and old flame from university she starts to question her reason for getting married, and take stock of her life. My favourite character was Marina’s grandmother, who in her younger years had run away from home to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Her’s is a story of courage, defiance, love and standing up for what you believe in.
As with her previous books, Karen Swan’s writing is beautifully descriptive and brings the beautiful city of Madrid and the countryside of Andalusia vividly to life. With part of the book being set in the late 1930’s, and during the Civil War, Karen Swan brings the reality of the fighting, the famine and the politics that divided friends, family and a country. Charlotte’s job as a wealth manager may at first sight seem a bit of a modern cliché, but what it does is bring attention to the downside of suddenly inheriting a vast sum of money. I know what you are all thinking, that it wouldn’t have a downside but in fact this book shows how alienating it can be; are your friends only friends because of your money, the isolation from real life if you have others to do your shopping etc and what happens when you have bought everything you want.
The Spanish Promise is a book about secrets, lies, family, love and standing up for what you believe in. With a prologue that grabs your attention, beautiful locations, engaging characters and the split timeline this is a book that you can really lose yourself in; the perfect summer read.
I would like to thank Pan Macmillan for my copy of The Spanish Promise in return for an honest review.
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