When we think of Guernica, we are likely to think of Picasso’s mural first, and its depiction of the bombing atrocity inflicted upon Guernica town, by the Nazis, second. Dave Boling re-adjusts our view of Picasso’s famous mural by telling the story of the bombing through the fictional families of the town.
In fact Picasso makes several appearances in the book through an account of his reactions to the war, the bombing, and his construction of the mural. Lorca’s violent and sadistic death is also mentioned as part of the tapestry of tragedy. This has resonance today with the attempts by his family to excavate Lorca’s grave in Spain.
The book begins after the event, and the author teases our sense of prediction by introducing two characters - Justo and Alaia. He allows us to make all kinds of assumptions about their characters and motives before he launches into the story which will reveal their connection, and the inadequacy of our own ideas.
The characters are drawn a little idealistically, but this works against the cold calculation of the Nazis and Francoists in the back story of the civil war in Spain. Boling is also able to display the strengths of the Basque character, and the book is informative in so far as it sets out a small aspect of Basque history and mistreatment with which we can begin to understand the situation in Northern Spain today. That isn’t to say that we can get the full historical picture of the atrocity in Guernica, yet we can develop sympathy with the Basque point of view.
The plot follows three Basque generations through love, marriage and war. We can spot the twist at the end, and I found this aspect of the plotting a little implausible. Having said that, it is a good read, particularly for those interested in aspects of Spanish culture and history, but as someone who knew little about this period in Spain, I enjoyed both the story and the historical context.
I also feel it does the Guernica mural a service in re-establishing Picasso’s motives, and relating it directly to the historical events that inspired it.
