THE WINDS OF CHANGE

By Joan Fallon

The Winds of Change is a love story set in Spain just before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, involving three families from very different backgrounds. The country is in political turmoil, with strikes and demonstrations. Unemployment is high and people are starving.

Ramon, a member of the Republican Left, has accidentally killed a policeman and is on the run from the Guardia Civil. He decides to hide in the hunting estate of Doñana where he meets and falls in love with Clementina, the beautiful daughter of a well-known gypsy horse trader.

One day, Hugo, the son of the wealthy owner of a local sherry bodega, Butler & Rodriguez, comes to Doñana to buy a horse. While he is there Hugo catches a glimpse of Clementina and becomes smitten by her beauty, but when he tries to see her again, he finds that both his parents and hers do everything they can to stop him.

Meanwhile Ramon's brother, Pedro, is arrested and imprisoned because he will not reveal his brother's whereabouts to the Guardia Civil. When Ramon hears this he knows he must do everything he can to save him. He has to choose between his brother and the woman he loves.

This historical novel is a story of love, politics, class prejudice, intrigue and betrayal in the year leading up to the Spanish Civil War.