Novel
The Cypresses Believe in God
Los cipreses creen en Dios
José María Gironella · 1953
Synopsis
Girona, from 1931 to 1936. The Alvears are a middle-class family: Matías, the father, who came from Madrid, works at the telegraph office; his wife, Carmen Elgazu, is a devout Basque; they have three children, Ignacio, César and Pilar. Ignacio, who went through the seminary as a child, works at the bank, takes evening classes and is won over by new ideas; César, for his part, turns towards the poor. Around them, anarchists, communists and fascists gradually divide the city, up to the eve of the war.
Context
The author wrote the novel in Paris, in five versions over four years, as the first part of a sequence on the civil war. In Spain, several publishers refused it; the foreign rights were bought by Plon, and the book appeared in 1953 from Planeta, thanks to José Manuel Lara. It was received by both camps as fair, and Franco declared after reading it that this was indeed what war was like. The story stops on the eve of the conflict; Un millón de muertos followed in 1961 and Ha estallado la paz in 1966.
Who it is for
A long novel, the first of a series, in which each party of the Republic has its representatives; it helps to know a little of that history.
Prizes and reception
National Literature Prize in 1953, a great bestseller in Spain and abroad; translated into English by Harriet de Onís.