«You shall not kill, son, you shall not kill, because no man can be the same after taking another man's life.»

Fernando, a young literary editor and the son of a persecuted Spanish Republican, decides to flee a Spain battered by the Civil War. His friends, Catalina and Eulogio, escaping their own circumstances, join him in the adventure. The three young friends live a great story of unwavering friendship and loyalty which takes them on a journey through Second World War Alexandria, occupied Paris, Lisbon, Prague, Boston and Chile.

An ode to friendship

Fernando, Catalina and Eulogio have grown together in a Madrid neighborhood close to the Encarnación convent. The Spanish Civil War has just ended and the young trio try to recover from the impact it had on their lives and those of their families.

Fernando lives with his mother, Isabel, awaiting his father's liberation -incarcerated because of his Republican ideals-, hoping for an absolution that never arrives.

Catalina lives on the same street. Her family has come to ruins during the Civil War and in order to confront their debts, her father plans to marry her to a man she despises. Eulogio is the one whose war losses are greatest. His father died in combat and he himself returned from war a cripple after a heroic act which saved Marvin's life, a young American who arrived in Spain in 1936 to study literature, and when war broke, decided to stay and portray the pain of conflict in a celebrated poem anthology.

The future's perspectives look grimmer each day for the three friends. They decide to unite their destinies and embark on a new life away from Madrid to save the little that they have left.

The gripping story of two families struggling to overcome their own destinies.

A mosaic of treachery and revenge, of possible and impossible loves, and of the great adventure that is living and surviving in a land marked by intolerance and outrage.

Marian Miller, an NGO aid worker, is asked to write a report on illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian territories. In order to do so, she wants to make sure she understands both sides of the story. Marian arranges a meeting in Israel with Ezekiel Zucker, an elderly man who, like many others, has a lot to tell and also, a secret to hide. Ezekiel will narrate his story as if it were a massive jigsaw puzzle with many complex pieces and Marian will tell him the version she's familiar with: the Arab one.

At the twilight of the 19th century, the Zuckers are banned from their homeland of Russia because they are Jewish. After undergoing unspeakable horrors and injustices under the tsar's rule, they set out for the Promised Land and buy land owned by the Ziads, an Arab family headed by a man named Ahmed. The two men, Ahmed Ziad and Samuel Zucker, will establish a strong bond, a friendship that can overcome religious and political differences and that will continue on for generations.

This riveting family saga that culminates in 1948 is not only Julia Navarro's best and most ambitious novel yet, it's a tale filled with real people taking responsibility for their own destinies by following their dreams and fighting for their lives. An unforgettable novel that, like all of history's greatest books, conceals many novels within.