The Bones in the Forest

The mayor of a small village somewhere in Aragón is shot dead at night on a lonely mountain road. Nearby, in a forest glade, lie the remains of three republicans, murdered by Francoist forces during the Spanish Civil War. Julia, a distant relative of one of the victims, joins a small group who want to exhume their remains and give them a proper burial. They face strong resistance from a hard core of villagers, who are also resentful of outsiders' attempts to identify the mayor's killer. Still traumatised by the accidental death of her daughter and her subsequent divorce, Julia becomes embroiled in the struggle between those who wish to recover Spain's "historical memory" and those who would prefer to leave past (and present) truths undisturbed. Michael Eaude is the author of several books relating to Spanish Catalonian history and culture, as well as biographies of Arturo Barea and Antoni Gaudí. He winters in Barcelona and spends his summers in a mountain village near Valencia. This is his first published novel.