As far as I can tell, it's a well translated work. It's definitely worth the read. I don't know much about Spain in the 1630's but this included a good amount of necessary information inbetween the fictional parts of the story. It's a surprisingly good romance with well done characters.

"I would recommend Open Sea, but at some points in the story you will get confused by who is actually talking." That being said, "Open Sea" is a great book about redemption, courage and love. The story follows mostly Catalina telling her story, but allows switches to Piers to tell some of what has transpired with him over the years.

I would like to thank the Netgalley website and Amazon Crossing Publishing for this partnership.

I was immediately attracted to the blanket, you can see the beautiful Len.

The story takes place in 1639 in Spain where Len's family is killed. She will be saved by an aristocratic family and fall in love with their son except that with the civil war that breaks out, he is forced to leave, when he returns he will find his family massacred and no traces of Len.

I loved this book, a real crush between this love story between Len and Piers and the civil war, the author leads us in an adventure of piracy and love with brio.

An unusual and actually deeply romantic read. Len and Piers are delightful characters who you will root for. The sea battles are well written and Gudin managed to sustain tension. Will there be a happy ending? Well, no spoilers but this one made me smile. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and to Amazon for bringing novels in translation to the English reading market.

This was quite the adventure! The author’s note is impressively detailed and almost as fascinating as the fictional story but be sure not to read this until the end.

There’s so much to this novel but it’s never too heavy nor overdone. The characters of Piers and Len were fascinating to read about and what they go through is heartbreaking. One scene in particular made me look away.

The most fascinating part for me was how real historical events were used and evoked to create this story of struggles, power and ultimately love. The story captures the time and place of the mid-1600’s with style and all of the five senses placing you right at the heart of the action in the squalor on one hand, and the rich homes where status and political position was everything.

If you don’t like sailing, be warned - the battle of the Armada comes to life and you feel part of the chaos, excitement and danger

There’s a lot to love here - a film of the story would be amazing.
Oh and kudos to the translator - very nicely done! smooth unlike the sea int he setting!

This story is based on around the battle of Spanish and the English who were persecuting Catholics under Queen’s Elizabeth’s rule.
I loved both Piers and Len ‘s character in this book. I was able to follow along with Len’s present life and could tell when she was about to reflect on her past. I could feel the pain and happiness of Len, Piers on the other hand zealous, hardworking, very strong, tender, driven and dedicated to both his family and to his lifelong dreams of sailing characters and very well written by the author.
One of my favorites parts of the book was when Pier’s shows determination to become Sailor, as quoted “Nihil difficile volante”, It means “Nothing is difficult for he who wants.’ The scenes that described Len’s capture and her rape ached my heart. I wanted it to end the continuous suffering she’s been through, I wanted author to do something good for her character.
The Open Sea was well structured this book was translated by Cynthia Steele; I had no issues with translation. I had never read Maria Gudin’s work before; I liked the way she had used historical events to create this love story. Maria Gudin’s characters were very alive, especially this book reflected the early to mid-1600’s where status and political position was everything.

The author beautifully incorporated historic battles and events, like the battle of the Armada, into the lives of the characters, leaving them wounded generations later.
Moving and heartrending, this tale starts with a wordless Len, living with her uncle. As her story unfolds, the reason for her silence becomes clearer. Amidst all the chaos Piers and Len overcome their hurdles and restore their love.