See How Much I Love You by Luis Leante (Translation by Martin Schifino ) is an enticing tale of love between two Barcelona teenagers, Montse and Santiago, that spans thirty years.
I would not dare call this book a romance novel; definitely, the wrong genre, but it is a love story. And the backdrop of the Western Sahara leads the reader into a world that few of us truly understand.
The plot has the impact of a thriller novel. (So much so, that I have passed my copy on to my husband.)
Santiago escapes to the Spanish military in 1975 and is stationed in Spain's only African colony. Unlike his fellow soldiers, Santiago is befriended by the native Sahawari people. When General Franco dies, Spain pulls out of the colony and Santiago chooses to stay to help his Sahawari friends as Morocco invades their land.
Montse discovers a photo of Santiago thirty years after the conflict and goes on a life threatening quest to find him.
This book has been compared to Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient by the INternational Literature Festival of Berlin 2010. ( 1 )
The translation is flawless, the story is gripping and the author's cause behind the writing of this story is enlightening.
(4 out of 5 stars)
See How Much I Love You available at You Are What You Read Book Store
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Luis Leante teaches classic in a high school in Alicante. He holds a degree in Classical Philology from the University of Murcia. He has written six novels and two novels for children. See How Much I Love You was inspired by a 2005 humanitarian trip to the Western Sahara. In 2007 it won the Alfaguawa priza for fiction.
The Whispers of the Tribe (Author's Blog via Google translator)
LEARN MORE:
Sahawari Women of the Western Sahara
National Union of Sahawari Women
ZEINA - Blog by two Sahawari women
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