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The loyalty of a once-proud nation exploited by a pact it must honour; a war that divides families, friends and communities. Catelina Mares, a stubborn, beautiful and fiercely proud Catalan woman must fight for all she loves and holds dear while the twists of history and fate intervene. Will she find what her heart cries out for? And what of her childhood friend, grown into a man who must put his country before all else. Will Mateo Amador lose everything and everyone he values to do his duty for his people? Can love and duty co-exist; is allegiance more important than family; and must duty ultimately destroy? Set against the backdrop of the Catalan Revolt during the Franco-Spanish War (1640 - 1659) this vivid tale of danger, honour and love will have you turning the pages until the last one, no matter the time. With the backdrop of the Franco-Spanish thirty-year war, we follow the events that began the disintegration of the once-powerful and successful Catalan state - part of the Crown of Aragon - situated on the eastern strip on the Iberian Peninsula. Through the lives of the Mares and Amador families, from 1639 - 1659, the story tells of the fight for dominance in Europe, and a David and Goliath type battle for continued independence. The story unfolds with five 'point of view' characters: Catelina Mares (personification of Catalunya (Catalonia) and the prize all want), Ignasio (Nacho) Alonso (personification of Spain and the House of Castile), Louis Bouchard (personification of France and the House of Habsburg), Mateo Amador (love interest and personification of the Catalan independence) and Pau Mares (father and personification of the old Catalan thinking). We first experience Catelina as a naive fifteen-year-old who hears the rumours that the Catalan way of life is under threat. However, she fails to understand how a war between France and Spain could possibly affect the people of Catalunya. Set primarily in Barcelona, the story begins in 1639 just prior to the War of the Reapers - when Catalan peasants, forced to feed and house Spanish troops, rose up in protest. Forced by circumstance, Catelina begins to realise the seriousness of the situation and that her life is about to change...
