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Siruela

The Peninsula of Empty Houses (Hardcover)

The Peninsula of Empty Houses (Hardcover)

Our review

Sometimes a book comes along that drops your jaw. This is one of them. David Uclés has not written a novel about the Civil War (another one, you'll say). No. He has written a total fable.

Imagine if Gabriel García Márquez had been born in Jándula and had decided to tell our most painful history, but filling it with ghosts who sit down to dinner, children who levitate, and olive trees that bleed. That is La península de las casas vacías.

We follow the Odiol family, a cursed and fascinating clan, through a Spain that crumbles and rebuilds itself. Uclés has such an overflowing imagination that sometimes you have to stop reading to catch your breath. It is lyrical, it is brutal, it is funny, and it is terribly sad all at once.

This Hardcover edition is the poetic justice that a 700-page work deserved. It reads better, preserves better, and looks impressive on the shelf. If you liked One Hundred Years of Solitude or The House of the Spirits, here's your new national obsession.

🏆AWARD-WINNING NOVEL. These are some of its AWARDS: Cálamo Book of the Year Award 2024; Andalucía Critics' Award; Spanish Candidate for the European Union Literary Award; Kelvin 505 Award from the Celcius 232 Festival for the best original novel in Spanish first published in Spain in 2024; Espartaco Award at the Semana Negra of Gijón for the best historical novel written in Spanish; Dulce Chacón Award 2025; Finalist VI Mario Vargas Llosa Biennial Novel Award; Archbishop Juan de San Clemente Literary Award; Festival 42 Award for best novel in Spanish; Andalucía de las Letras Award 2025.

Book details

Synopsis

The story begins with the decomposition of an atom and the birth of a child. It is 1936 in Jándula, a fictional (yet very real) town in southern Spain. The Odiol family will see their quiet life shattered by the outbreak of the Civil War. But this is not the war of history books: here, soldiers get lost in enchanted forests, the dead return to settle scores, and reality bends to the will of destiny. An epic 15-year journey through a wounded and empty peninsula.

About the author

David Uclés (Úbeda, 1990) is a writer, musician, and cartoonist. A modern Renaissance man. With this novel, which took him 15 years to research and write (visiting every town mentioned in the book), he has established himself as one of the most original and powerful voices in contemporary Spanish narrative.

Technical Sheet:

  • Author: David Uclés

  • Publisher: Siruela (Nuevos Tiempos Collection)

  • Binding: Hardcover

  • Pages: 704

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