Life imitates art, not art imitates life.
The Christmas season in Madrid is the perfect backdrop for partying, and Flora Gascón, a beautiful redhead with doll-like eyes, and her group of friends make the most of it. But the following morning, instead of being cuddled up in bed with her husband, Flora wakes up in a Gran Vía hotel with an attractive French man of whom she only knows one thing; his name, Paul.
On her nightstand, there is a book, Mist in Tangier, and next to it, an amulet that Flora takes as a souvenir of her adventure. The next day, Paul sends Flora a message inviting her to repeat the occasion, but when Flora goes to the meeting, the attractive Frenchman is nowhere to be found, and his number is disconnected. Paul’s disappearance does not make Flora forget the wonderful night they shared, pushing her even more to escape from her monotonous life. Flora reads the book she saw on Paul’s nightstand, Mist in Tangier, in which, curiously, one of the characters is also named Paul. The novel tells the story of Marina Ivannova, the daughter of a Jewish immigrant family to Tangier with the goal of doing business. The Ivannova family arranges a marriage for Marina, but she decides to marry another man and move to the United States to become a silent film actress. Years later, divorced and childless, Marina returns to Tangier, where she opens her own hotel and adopts a Berber girl named Laila.
One day, Marina meets the attractive Paul Dingle and they start a sexual relationship. Laila, Marina’s adopted daughter, starts to fall in love with Paul, and filled with jealousy, kills Paul when she discovers that Marina is pregnant with his child. Seeking to learn more about the two Pauls, Flora decides to travel to Tangier and speak directly with the author, who goes by the name “Bella Nur.” Delving deeper with the locals, Flora begins to make friends and connections that will change her entire reality, linking her life with the book inextricably when she discovers that Bella Nur is Laila, Ivannova’s adopted daughter and the supposed murderer of Paul Dingler who may not be as dead as they thought.
RELEVANT INFORMATION: A finalist for the Planeta Prize, Mist in Tangier has been translated into more than fifteen languages and published in twenty-two countries. The story encompasses a plot of love as a pretext for the protagonist’s self-search. With a mastery of mixing mystery with romantic notes, Cristina López Barrio creates a captivating adventure intertwining two interconnected stories in an ingenious way, featuring two strong women who trigger an exciting journey in the cosmopolitan city of Tangier.
The critics have said:
“This is a novel within a novel, a fiction within another, describing a fascinating past that absorbs the reader. Luxurious writing, magnificent characters spanning several generations, and a protagonist (Flora) searching for meaning in her life… Incredible, a book that you can’t put down. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.” Goodreads
“A novel that hooks you from the beginning, transports you, almost unknowingly drags you to another dimension, to that labyrinthine Tangier where you can get lost and imbue yourself with its smells feeling its warmth.” Amazon
“I loved it, in the end, it felt too short and I needed more!” Casa del Libro
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Film, TV Movie.
AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish.
