In The Dark

Teruel, north-east Spain, winter, 1937. The civil war is raging, pitting neighbour against neighbour, tearing families apart. Franco's Nationalist rebels have surrounded the devastated, Republican-held city. The people are struggling to survive in a battle zone, enduring the coldest winter in decades.
This is the story of a house, of the people who take refuge there – and a dangerous secret within. While the bombs fall and the world crumbles, María and her sister Julita, bitterly entrenched on different sides of the conflict, mourn their lost loved ones and try to bury their differences. It's the only way they can build a small, safe space where their children and friends can shelter from the chaos and destruction all around.
But only one person knows the secret of the house, hidden deep in the dark– a deserter from the conflict, a soldier who has dared to leave the fighting to come home – and the woman who dares to protect him.
In The Dark is a heart-rending tale of the bitter daily hardships of survival during war, of the struggle to extract truth from a multitude of truths – and of a love that yearns to transcend the conflict, no matter what the cost.

Praise for In The Dark
A lyrical, richly textured novel of great beauty and depth that pulses with humanity and love amid the heartbreak and desolation of war…A graceful, impactful, insightful read.Lisa Harding

A heart-breaking, fiercely honest and formally daring novel"
Paddy Woodworth

In The Dark tells the story of how men all but destroy Spain during its civil war - but the women waiting at home hold the country's jagged pieces together. This is historical fiction with the pulse of life in it.”
Martina Devlin

A stellar & compelling Spanish Civil War novel cum love story. Never mind an ending which bequeaths more than a sting—something more like a whiplash—to a mighty tale.
Anthony Glavin