Ildefonso Falcones returns with "In love and war"

Spanish writer Ildefonso Falcones returns with the historical novel In Love and War, the third part of the saga The Cathedral of the Sea, a publishing phenomenon that surpassed the record figure of one and a half million copies sold in Spain during its first year.

Synopsis of the book

The novel is set in the year 1442. Arnau Estanyol serves King Alfonso V of Aragon with fervour and loyalty in the conquest of the kingdom of Naples, whose capital has just been besieged. Together with the monarch, he triumphantly entered the city in February 1443, settling into one of its main palaces with his family. The young general enjoys the favour and absolute trust of Alfonso, with whom he shares his passion for hunting and holds the position of chief huntsman. However, their relationship will be affected when he publicly confronts Gaspar Destorrent, his greatest enemy and one of the king's main benefactors, who has been financing the war with his fortune for some time.

A few years after conquering Naples, the king sends Arnau to the Principality of Catalonia to resolve matters of vital importance to the Crown. Taking advantage of his absence, Arnau's eternal enemy takes advantage of the fact that the soldier is in Barcelona to break into his palace, with catastrophic consequences for the Estanyol family. A devastating event that will force him to return immediately to Naples to restore his honour, which has been tarnished in his absence. Eager for revenge, Arnau will dedicate all his resources to finishing off the person responsible for the misfortune that has plagued his family.

Over the years, Arnau will witness how the world changes around him, as well as the art of war and how love is capable of transforming the most hardened heart.

Among the characters that make up this story are: Marina Di Forti, Arnau's teenage stepdaughter; Paolo Crivino, a fifteen-year-old Neapolitan baker who helped in the taking of Naples due to his knowledge of the city's wells and aqueducts; and Sofia Di Forti, of archaic Neapolitan aristocratic lineage, Arnau's second wife.

The author

Ildefonso Falcones is a lawyer and writer. La catedral del mar, his first novel, became an unprecedented worldwide publishing phenomenon, recognized by both readers and critics, and published in more than forty countries. It also won several awards, including the Euskadi de Plata 2006 for the best novel in Spanish, the Qué Leer for the best book in Spanish in 2006, the José Manuel Lara Foundation Award for the best-selling novel in 2006, and the prestigious Italian Giovanni Boccaccio Award 2007 for the best foreign author, the Città dello Stretto International Award 2008, and the Fulbert de Chartres Award 2009. In 2018, it became a successful television series broadcast by Antena 3 and TV3. In addition, the work was adapted to comic book format in a splendid graphic novel published by Random Comics and illustrated by Tomeu Pinya.

His second novel, La mano de Fátima (Grijalbo, 2009), was awarded the 2010 Roma Prize, and La reina descalza (Grijalbo, 2013), his next work, received the Pencho Cros Prize. Los herencias de la tierra (Grijalbo, 2016) was the long-awaited sequel to La catedral del mar (The Cathedral of the Sea) and has also been turned into a series. In El pintor de almas (The Painter of Souls) (Grijalbo, 2019), the author portrayed the dawn of the 20th century, when architectural modernism changed the face of Barcelona, ​​and Esclava de la libertad (Slave of Freedom) (Grijalbo, 2022) represented a firm defence of cultural diversity and historical justice. All of them have received numerous critical acclaim and reader support, with more than eleven million copies of his work sold worldwide.