The Spanish Bow: Andromeda Romano-Lax

Image Credit: Coralpress

Lifewordsmith is becoming more popular on Facebook and I am really happy that our reviews are being read by an increasing number of people! I think poor Soul is slightly unhappy with her reading choices so far and I have to say the one I am going to review now was also a bit disappointing. “The Spanish Bow” by Andromeda Romano-Lax seemed quite intriguing when I bought it. Here is a summary from Flipkart:

When Feliu Delargo is born, late-nineteenth-century Spain is a nation slipping from international power and struggling with its own fractured identity, caught between the chaos of post-empire and impending Civil War.

Feliu's troubled childhood and rise to fame lead him into a thorny partnership with an even more famous and eccentric figure, the piano prodigy Justo Al-Cerraz. The two musicians' divergent artistic goals and political inclinations threaten to divide them as Spain plunges into Civil War. But as Civil War turns to World War, shared love for their trio partner -- an Italian violinist named Aviva -- forces them into their final and most dangerous collaboration.

This is no doubt an impressive debut and Romano-Lax has sewn a broad tapestry that includes three wars. Feliu is an interesting character study. He seems timid at first but his personality takes shape gradually as he becomes more well-known and accomplished. We see both the World Wars as well as Spain’s Civil War through his eyes. It is the Spanish War that changes his life forever. Justo Al-Cerraz is an equally intriguing character, but more quixotic in nature. I enjoyed reading some of the verbal jousts between Feliu and Al-Cerraz filled with piquant wordage. Although, Romano-Lax fleshes out several more characters in the novel, it is definitely centered on these two. And even though Feliu’s brother, Enrique, is just an epistolary presence, we do feel his tenderness and care for his little brother almost as if he was a physically there.

Despite, or perhaps because of, these various personages the book gets weighed down quite a bit. Maybe the addition of too many themes – music, war, politics, culture – also bring the story down in the middle. Aviva, the love interest of both the musicians, does perk up the landscape with her appearance, which occurs quite far into the book. And then things go a bit more quickly and all too soon it ends.

The Spanish Bow is packed with every emotion and the highs and lows that are sprinkled liberally on the graph of life. We experience music as well as the lives of the people who make it at an intimate level. Apart from that, we get to see 20th century Spain and walk along its streets and travel in its trains with Feliu. That is an experience in itself.

The quote that got my vote: “It seemed the only thing left to do was to stop playing altogether. . . . Music itself struck me as evil,” Feliu decides as he is engulfed in the tragedy of the Second World War.

Verdict: Rough out the drag in the middle and enjoy the colorful lives of musicians

Rating: 3/5