Guillermo and the Tetuan Bookshop

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was one of the major conflicts of the 20th century, with repercussions that spread beyond its time and place, but not all its heroes were combatants. Guillermo’s ideology ensured that he spent the entire war as a political prisoner - first in his native Tenerife, and subsequently in a labour camp near Tetuan, in what was then Spanish Morocco - thus pre-empting what would have been his natural inclination to volunteer to join the Republican army and fight against Franco’s Nationalists. Embodying history, politics and socio-economics, this story shows how war affects ordinary people. It provides a vivid insight into both the everyday life of Tenerife and the exoticism of Tetuan, where the reader is immersed in the sights, sounds and aromas of the Medina. This is a modern historical novel that includes elements of courtroom drama, action thriller and romance, which will repay the engagement of a wide readership.