Golden Earrings
Belinda Alexandra
Gallery Books, Aug 18 2015, $16.00
ISBN: 9781476790336
In 1975 France, estranged from her father Paloma lives with her
Spanish grandmother Evelina while matriculating at the Paris Opera Ballet
School. Paloma stays focused on her goal
until she fails to gain a ballet spot due to her anger at a bias selectee
hurting her audition. When she receives golden
earrings that remind her of her ignored heritage in Spain, Paloma begins to
search her Spanish roots before the ascendancy of the recently deceased Franco.
Her efforts lead to fascinating la Rusa; who in the 1930s was
considered one of the greatest flamenco dancers ever; but at the top of her
fame committed suicide. To her shock,
Paloma finds several people including her secretive grandmother rejoiced when
la Rusa killed herself after being accused of betraying affluent Evelina and
her family. Hoping the truth will set
her free, the more Paloma learns the more astonished she becomes; while
obsessing over what really happened decades ago that impact her today.
This exciting epic historical focuses on Spain just before and
during the 1930s Civil War and 1970s Paris (though there are other eras like
1909 Barcelona). Ironically though
Paloma and Evelina are ostensibly the stars, la Rusa owns the entertaining
storyline past and even years after her death in the 1975 present. The storyline starts slowly to enable readers
to meet the players; once in first gear, the mystery and Spain’s mid twentieth
century history make for an insightful engaging drama.
Harriet Klausner
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