Shanghai Nights

Forfourteen-year-oldDanielgrowingupinapoverty-strickendistrictofpost-warBarcelona,acitywherememoriesoftheagonisingCivilWarwerestillfresh,lifewasgreyandrarelyeasy.Hisfatherhadnotreturnedfromwarandhelivedwithhismother,fillingintimebetweenschoolandstartingworkasajeweller\'sapprenticebylookingafteranelderly,eccentric,retiredseacaptain.Allthatenlivenedthedailygrindofeconomichardshipanddullroutineweretheoccasionalcross-borderraidsoverthePyreneesmadebyRepublicansympathisersdeterminedtodestabiliseFranco\'sgovernment,andvisitstothecinema.Buttherewerealsothemagicalstoriestoldbythemanycolourfulcharactersinthisnovelthatareinterwovenwiththemainnarrative.ChiefamongthemisthatofKimandhisthrillingadventuresinamythicalShangaipopulatedbygun-runners,ex-Nazis,beautifulwomenandsinisternightclubowners.Dreamsandrealityfuseinthisenchantingtaleofhumanspiritandimaginationtriumphingovermiserytoldbyamastercraftsman.