Fiction. Set in the narrow streets of a historic Madrid neighborhood between 1937 and the 1950s, THE ROAD, AND NOTHING MORE centers on struggling, interrelated families during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship. The current of life is as primal as it gets; it ebbs and flows during privations and rare hopeful moments in times usually described abstractly as a conflict between irreconcilable ideologies. These characters don't have the means to be idealists, but tough, resilient and dignified, they appraise their situations and adapt in order to eat and to stay alive. The reader will care about them to the last page, as they fight to maintain their dignity and their commitment to one another.
"Like its central character, the tenacious Señora Rosa, THE ROAD, AND NOTHING MORE is spirited, no-nonsense and wry. J. L. Bautista's epic depiction of the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, told from the street-level view of housecleaner Señora Rosa, enfolds a family, a neighborhood, and a country, and breathes life into dark days without ever losing its hold on optimism and its sense of humor. This may seem strange to say about a novel on such grim subject, but with such compelling characters and hardy prose, reading it was a true delight."—Shawna Yang Ryan, author of Water Ghosts
Co-published with Andrea Young Arts, Berkeley.
Author City: MADRID SPA
THE ROAD, AND NOTHING MORE is a first novel. Recipient of the 2005 George Garrett Prize in Fiction, and author of Fiestas, a short story collection, J. L. Bautista divides her time between northern California and Madrid, Spain.