A Bookseller in Madrid
by Mario Escobar
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Pub Date Jul 01 2025 | Archive Date Aug 01 2025
HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse
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Description
How can the words of the past help heal the horror of the present?
For as long as she can remember, Barbara Spiel has always found solace in books. Born in Germany and having come of age in a tumultuous era, she flees her home country as the Nazis rise to power in the early 1930s. Her destination? Madrid. There she's determined to realize her long-held dream of opening a bookshop and creating a safe haven for young idealists and independent thinkers to come together to transform the world.
Yet Spain isn't immune from its own troubles. The winds of change are blowing through both city and countryside, and it's impossible to predict what will happen. When the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War puts Barbara and everyone around her in peril--including the Spanish Socialist parliamentarian she's fallen deeply in love with--the terror and hatred seem all too familiar. It's like Germany all over again, only with its own cast of extremist characters.
Hounded simultaneously by Stalinist checas, Francoist Facists, and the German Gestapo, Barbara fights to keep her bookstore the safe haven that she's always imagined it would be. But with war brewing both inside Spain and outside its borders throughout the entirety of Europe--and beyond--Barbara isn't sure who exactly she can trust, or if people really are who they claim to be.
A story told with tremendous heart and astonishing historical accuracy, A Bookseller in Madrid is ultimately a story about dreams--dreaming with courage when nothing seems to make sense, and dreaming with hope when words printed on a page are all you can hold on to.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781400347445 |
| PRICE | $18.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Kelsey V, Reviewer
Oh my gosh this book needs to be on the list for everyone’s 2025 book club reads! It was so good! I could not put it down and I just fell in love with the characters.
Sue G, Reviewer
A BOOKSELLER IN MADRID by MARIO ESCOBAR is an extremely well written and well researched historical novel which takee us through both WW11 and the Spanish Civil War as we follow Barbara Spiel who leaves Germany in 1933 moving to Madrid to follow her dream of opening a bookstore there. She marries Spanish parliamentarian Juan Delgado, who she met in Germany.
Barbara, together with her friends, loves books and feels literature has the power to change the world. I like to see her loyalty towards her friends, her energy in following her dream and her bravery when she is forced to spy for the Nazis whilst already doing so for the British. There is also a strong Christian message of hope running through this war torn period of history, where hatred and murder seem to be the norm.
The story is fast paced and exciting and as I got into it I could not put it down. I cannot recommend this interesting and inspirational read strongly enough.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Harper Muse. The opinions in this review are completely my own.
Librarian 1647912
This story fallows a German bookseller who escapes Germany before World War II only to end up in the middle of the Spanish Civil War. I couldn’t put this book down. The intense story full of hope, strength, and love kept me reading long past my bedtime. I highly recommend this book to everyone; it is a true testament to the women of the time and the strength they had to carry on and fight for their families and friends.
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