The Frozen Heart

If you thought (like I used to) that Almudena Grandes can produce nothing better than the boring, badly written pornography of "Las Edades de Lulu" or the repetitive and convoluted tale of female self-abasement of "Malena es un nombre de tango," you will be pleasantly surprised by this novel. There are two stories that are intertwined in this 1300-pages-long delight of a novel. One takes place today, while the other one is set during the Spanish Civil War and in the years right after it. Almudena Grandes has obviously done an incredible amount of research for this novel. There are several plots and subplots in "Corazon helado," but they are all pertinent to the story and extremely enjoyable to read. By the end of the novel, there are some parts that get a little bit redundant. Grandes is yet to master the art of letting her characters express their feelings without endless reiterations. Still, the story is fascinating, the language is beautiful, and the history of the real events behind the novel is heart-breaking. It will take you a while to get through this long novel but I don't think you'll be sorry. It will make the Civil War come alive in front of your eyes.