A review by margaret21
Barcelona Dreaming by Rupert Thomson

5.0

I picked this book from the library shelves for no better reason than that Barcelona is a city I know well. And indeed, this is a book with a strong sense of place. Not Tourist Barcelona, with its must-see monuments, its busy cafes and its omni-present pick-pockets: but the varied city which all kinds of people from dyed in the wool Catalans to ex-pats and immigrants call home. Here are three interlinked novellas, featuring an Englishwoman who falls for a young Moroccan hardly older than her daughter; an alcoholic jazz pianist whose relationship with his younger partner collapses; and a translator, tormented by his unrequited love. They never meet, but are linked loosely through neighbours, colleagues and unconnected events. The book explores themes such as immigration, racism, nostalgia, lack of self-knowledge: old relationships linger on. Thomson conjures up people whose complicated lives are utterly plausible, and a city that lives and breathes without reference to the tourist haunts so many travellers see: its dust and dirt and exhaust fumes, as well as the clarity of the early morning light. An immersive book.