In 1936 Stephen Faith, a young student, goes to Spain to teach English to Pablo, the seventeen-year-old son of the Mayor of Zahara de los Membrillos, and he finds himself falling in love with his pupil's older brother. The beginning of the Spanish Civil War, however, interrupts this idyllic period of his life; Pablo is murdered and his brother, the leader of a group of daring Anarchists, inflicts a horrible revenge. Increasingly Stephen becomes involved in events outside his control as Zahara is besieged by the Fascists; on the wrong side of the lines eventually, he is deserted by his lover, tortured, and sentenced to death. His escape from prison is the exciting climax to this immensely readable, fast-moving story of love, war, betrayal and murder. It is without doubt the finest novel David Rees has written.
