Stephanie Allen-Early Take Me With You When You Go

Annotation

Based on authentic love letters, written to the author by a hapless bullfighterDiscover post civil war Andalusia, with its Moorish past through the language and culture of local peopleCompares 1950s Ireland with Franco's Spain in the same period, both in the grip of unbending CatholicismTake Me With You When You Go is the true story of a young girl who leaves her Dublin home to take her chances in Southern Spain. It takes the form of a first person memoir, written with pathos and humour.Not many choices were available in the Dublin of that period to "a fatherless child like you with no examinations to your name" and Stephanie is sent off to live in a feudal family of the sherry aristocracy in Jerez de la Frontera. She will be a "Miss" to the children and give them English conversation lessons. The Garvey family are landowners of vast and beautiful estates throughout Spain and she travels to each of these in turn, learning about Spanish life and landscape.The writer perfectly captures the atmosphere of a feudal household in post-Civil War Spain, which is still recovering from the cruelty and bloodshed perpetrated by both sides. Eventually she is allowed an afternoon visit to the local hotel where she meets young ex-bullfighter, Javier, who takes a strong liking to her and begins to write her the letters of love and friendship which form the backbone of the memoir.This book will appeal to readers with an interest in the history of Catholic Spain and Catholic Ireland, Spanish travel, culture, and romance.