Hi. Going to Spain in May and looking for some good fiction. I prefer contemporary stuff, but I'd be willing to try historical fiction as well if it's highly recommended. Someone at the bookstore recommended Arturo Perez-Reverte. Any good?

A couple of suggestions: "Don Quixote" by Miguel Cervantes, but you'd probably be better off just listening to the music from "Man of La Mancha". "Tales of the Alhambra" by Washington Irving (especially if you're going to the Alhambra in Granada)..

Hemingway. "The Sun Also Rises" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls"

It's a memoir rather than fiction, but I'm reading &quot;Driving over Lemons, An Optimist in Andalucia&quot; by Chris Stewart. And listening to Miles Davis' &quot;Sketches of Spain&quot;, which I loved long ago anyway....<BR><BR>Seems as if there are lots of us who'll be in Spain in May!

Just finished re-reading For Whom the Bell Tolls--wonderful. Another Hemingway concerning Spain: Death in the Afternoon. A classic on the workings of bullfighting, and its place in the Spain's soul. The best and most insightful book on Spanish bullfighting written by a non-Spaniard.

The Seville Communion by Arturo Perez-Reverte is a pretty good book, good enough that I'm willing to check out his other books. There's Iberia by James Michener. Just finished Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart which was cute, and along those lines, you might try Derek Lambert's Spanish Lessons. The Stewart and Lambert books are both about the experiences of &quot;foreigners&quot; moving to Spain. Stewart is British; can't remember but I think Lambert might also be. I'll be darned if I can find my copy of Don Quixote, but think I might read it when I'm in Spain in April - can't wait!

Arturo Perez Reverte is really good, both his fiction and his journalistic pieces. He writes satiric, psychological fiction, but also historical fiction (The Captain Alatriste series). I really like Javier Marias (heavy psychological fiction with philosophical overtones). Interestingly enough, they share space opposite each other in one of Spain's Sunday magazines, and regularly trade insults back and forth. Both are fairly widely translated if you don't read Spanish.<BR><BR>

Ditto to all of the above and in particular, to what cooter has told you. I love the P&eacute;rez Reverte books and have read all of them-particularly liked the Seville Communion and the Fencing Master (made into a movie). They've all been translated into English-available at your local B&amp;N or Borders. I'm also partial to Javier Mar&iacute;as.<BR>cooter has very good taste...

I took &quot;For Whom the Bell Tolls&quot; with me to Spain; I don't recommend doing that, 'cause it made me grim and depressed. (Perhaps I get too involved in my lit'ra'chr.)<BR><BR>Read it ahead of time, but don't spend time on your vacation saying, &quot;Blow up the @#$% bridge, already!&quot;

Hi, all. Thanks for your suggestions. I just finished A Heart So White by Javier Marias and I'm reading the Seville Communion by Arturo Perez-Reverte now. I also have The Hive by Camilo Jose Cela. Just thought I'd see if there were any other suggestions for books by Spanish authors set in Spain.

Also, for those of you who read plays, I wanted to recommend Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca.

Vita, I hope you don't mind if I piggyback onto your post, but can anyone recommend any good fiction for Barcelona? Thanks!<BR><BR>Meredith

The South, by Irish novelist Colm Toibin, is about an Irish woman who leaves her family and moves to Spain in the 1950's. I haven't actually read the book (although I've read other novels by Colm Toibin which I've liked), but I believe that at least part of it takes place in Barcelona.<BR><BR>Another novel by an Irish novelist that takes place in Spain (talk about your market niches!) is Talk of Angels, by Kate O'Brien. It's about an Irish woman who goes to Spain to be a governess in the 1920's. Its original title was Mary Lavelle, but a few years ago it was made into a movie called Talk of Angels, so that's the title that was used for the tie-in paperback edition.

<BR>Joanna Trollope- The Spanish Lover

Any Spainish women writers anyone can recommend that have been translated to English?

Hi artlover,<BR>I can suggest 2 Spainsih women writers- Carmen Mart&iacute;n Gaite and Ana Mar&iacute;a Matute.<BR><BR>Their works translated into English-<BR><BR>Try The Back Room by Mart&iacute;n Gaite.<BR>By Matute either School of the Sun (published as Primera Memoria in Spanish) or the second half of the trilogy, Soldiers Cry By Night, both set in the time of the Spanish Civil War.<BR>Matute's masterpiece, Olvidado Rey Gud&uacute;, hasn't been translated into English yet, I don't believe.

Some of my favourites<BR>South of Granada - Gerald Brennan – 1930s experiences of the Las Alpujarras<BR>Homage to Catalonia (Sp) – George Orwell – Orwell’s experiences of fighting in the Spanish Civil War<BR>As I went walking one summers day – Laurie Lee – the diary of a man who one day decided to walk from Summerset to Spain.<BR>

It's not a boook, but I recommend watching the movie &quot;To Talk of Angels&quot;--we loved the scenery.

Ahhhh- If we are talking movies, any Almodovar film is excellent for getting in the mood.

Thank you Maribel! As always, you are truly an incredible source for information.