La ciudad de los ojos grises

For our Panellists, it looks like a very impressive novel, where all the characters have a strong personality and every detail has been taken care of. According to them, La ciudad de los ojos grises has all the elements to fill a void in the UK  Market.

La cuidad de los ojos grises by Felix G. Modroño is part historical novel, part murder mystery and part love story. It tells the story of Alfredo Gastiosoro, professor of architecture In Paris, who returns to his native Bilbao, after a two year self-enforced exile when he learns of the death of the only woman he has ever loved, his childhood sweetheart Izarbe, who also happens to have been married to his brother, Javier. Set initially in Paris in 1914 against the outbreak of the First World war and switching to Bilbao where Alfredo immediately heads in order to ascertain the circumstances surrounding, and then investigate what turns out to be the suspicious death of Izarbe, the novel crosses worlds of espionage, cabaret, politics, different social classes and family feuds in order to reveal the events leading up to the death of Izarbe and, in true whodunit style, the perpetrator of the crime. The story is told in the form of flashbacks, set against an end of 19th century Bilbao that is on the verge of changing from a largely rural town to an upcoming, modern, industrial and prosperous city that also reflects the coming of age of the protagonist and forms the backdrop of his experiences and memories. The descriptions of Bilbao are such that the reader is completely transported through all of the senses as the author describes not only the sights, but the sounds, smells and tastes that make-up the hometown of the protagonist, and he describes in great detail not only the geographical changes the city underwent, but also the social, economic and political changes that affected the city and its population at the time. The novel is written in a nostalgic, almost melancholy, but above all highly readable prose and the gradual revelation of important details relating both to the murder of Izarbe and the mystery surrounding the family and origins of Alfredo, keeps the reader on edge from beginning to end. (…)

(…) La cuidad de los ojos grises is a highly atmospheric and completely gripping novel that is only complemented by such a strong and vivid historical context. (From the reader report by Jennifer Arnold [3])