Book description
The Accordionist's Son is a remarkably powerful and
accomplished novel, exploring the life of David Imaz, a former
inhabitant of the Basque village of Obaba, now living in exile and
ill-health on a ranch in California.
As a young man, David divides his time between his uncle's ranch and
his life in the village, where he reluctantly practises the accordion
on the insistence of his authoritarian father. Increasingly aware of
the long shadow cast by the Spanish Civil War, he begins to unravel
the story of the conflict, his father's association with the fascists
and his uncle's opposition and brave decision to hide a wanted
republican.
Caught betweeen the two men, the course of his own life is changed
forever when he agrees to shelter a group of students on the run from
the military police.
Translated by Margaret Jull Costa.
Bernardo Atxaga was born in Gipuzkoa in Spain in 1951 and lives in
the Basque Country, writing in Basque and Spanish. He is a
prizewinning novelist and poet, whose books, including Obabakoak
and Seven Houses in France, have won critical acclaim in
Spain and abroad. His works have been translated into twenty-two languages.
Margaret Jull Costa has been a literary translator from Spanish and
Portugese for over twenty years, translating such writers as José
Saramago, Eça de Queiroz, Luis Fernando Verissimo and Fernando
Pessoa. Her work has brought her a number of prizes, the most recent
of which was the 2010 Premio Valle-Inclán for Javier MarÃas' Your
Face Tomorrow 3: Poison, Shadow and Farewell.
