El italiano / The Italian

LA NUEVA NOVELA DE ARTURO PÉREZ-REVERTE

Una historia de amor, mar y guerra

«Su estilo elegante se combina con un gran manejo de la lengua española. Pérez-Reverte es un maestro.» –La Stampa

«-Hay algo que me propongo hacer —dice ella al fin—. O quizá debo hacer, en realidad.
-¿Puedo serte útil para eso?
-En cierta forma lo eres. Al fin y al cabo, tú me enseñaste a amar a los héroes.

Devuelve el libro a su lugar y afronta la mirada perpleja del padre.

-Sin ti nunca los habría reconocido —añade.
-No creo que yo…
-Oh, no, en absoluto. O tal vez también lo fuiste algún tiempo, antes de que nuestra Troya ardiera.»

En los años 1942 y 1943, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, buzos de combate italianos hundieron o dañaron catorce barcos aliados en Gibraltar y la bahía de Algeciras. En esta novela, inspirada en hechos reales, sólo algunos personajes y situaciones son imaginarios. Elena Arbués, una librera de veintisiete años, encuentra una madrugada mientras pasea por la playa a uno de esos buzos, desvanecido entre la arena y el agua. Al socorrerlo, la joven ignora que esa determinación cambiará su vida y que el amor será sólo parte de una peligrosa aventura.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

ARTURO PEREZ-REVERTE’S NEW NOVEL!
 
A story about love, sea, and war.
 
“His elegant narrative style masterfully joins his great command of the Spanish language. Perez-Reverte is a Master.” –La Stampa
 
In 1942 and 1943, during World War II, Italian combat divers either sank, or severely damaged, fourteen allied ships in the strait of Gibraltar and the Bay of Algeciras. In this novel which was inspired by real events, there are only a few characters and situations that have been made up by the author. Elena Arbues, a twenty-seven-year-old bookseller, finds one of those divers passed out on the shoreline as she was walking on the beach. As she rescued him the young woman was unaware that this act would forever change her life and that love will only be part of a dangerous adventure.
 
«-There’s something I intend to do,” she finally says. Or maybe I really should do it.
-Can I be of any help for that?
-In a way you have already been helpful. After all, you taught me to love heroes.

She puts the book back in its place and meets her father’s puzzled gaze.

“Without you I would have never recognized them,” she adds.
-I don’t think I …
-Oh, no, I wouldn’t have at all. Or maybe you were one too at some point, before all hell broke loose.»