Golden Earrings

This is a novel dense with topics and dark brooding moods. It is set in Paris and Barcelona from the early 1900s to the 1970s. The stories are told by two young women in different time periods. One woman is a flamingo dancer and the other is a classical ballet dancer. It is nearly impossible to summarize this book in a short paragraph. It is also difficult to decide which Genre the book should be filed under. It could be said it is a love story, spy thriller, war drama, psychological thriller, mystery, ghost story with a dysfunctional family and flawed characters. But, beware, this book plays with your mind and is by no imagination light in any manner. After reading this book I felt like someone had beat me over the head and all of the ideas in the book was free floating around my brain. The theme is trust no one and nothing is as it seems. Bottom line, do not read this book on the beach😳

This is a novel with a moral, that reminds us to always get the full story before judging others.It took me a long time to read this, as I had to juggle it with review-required books, but it's a book that one needs to savor bit by bit anyway.It goes from Paloma in 1970s France--a ballet dancer estranged from her father, living with her Spanish grandmother who is full of secrets--to Evelina in a turbulent Spain--a wealthy pampered girl I never came to like--to La Rusa, a flamenco dancer accused of betraying Evelina's family.I won't deny that I became confused at times with jumping around, but not to the point it detracted from my enjoyment of the story and the lessons and history within. The Spanish Civil War is a difficult one to grasp--so many parties, so much hatred, so many factions, but the book simplifies it as much as a historical novel possibly can. The church, Franco, the Republicans, the Socialists...etc.There's three romances, though I would say La Rusa's steals the show. There's secrets, lies, betrayal, and it being over 500 pages, we'd be here all day if I tried to tell you even a quarter of them. It's great story telling though and as I said above, educational about the war. I also appreciated the awareness of class division. It's something we must never forget--how it can tear apart a nation, how things can go so badly when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer... The moment we forget history is the moment we risk repeating it. That makes books like this even more important. The dancing, the descriptions, every is vivid and beautiful with the perfect amount of description.My only solid quibble is I freaking hated Evelina. Never came to like her. Spoiled brat, if you ask me--as a young girl, as a woman, as an old lady. I prefer to like the main players of a story--especially the heroines, and she came across as one."I imagined that Margarida had become a famous writer and was living in a cottage somewhere with dozens of cats. She would write about us, and we would live on her fiction."Why don't you, like, try to do something yourself, Evelina?I almost took away a star I hated her so much (and Conchita too), but La Rusa's experiences as an ambulance driver redeemed the book. She had enough guts for all three women combined. :)

Could not put this book down! Period! A must read! I was not familiar with the wars in Spain, what a fabulous education I received. The characters in this novel, I loved them all, La Rusa, most of all. History is important to all our lives; in order to learn why we should avoid them! A powerful story of every emotion that touches all our lives every day.

I love love LOVED this book!Belinda Alexandra is one of my all time favourite authors and she has yet again demonstrated why.The storyline was full of adventure and twists worthy of any dancer, and while it was definitely not predictable, it was easy to follow. I would think I had figured it all out and then a new detail would be expertly woven in and I had to guess again.The characters were colourful and their stories were told by switching seamlessly from one pint of view to another, one era to the next and back again.I can honest say that the book was exciting right up until the very last page. I would love to read and re-read this book over again many times.

Love Belinda Alexandra. Have read White Gardenia, Silver Wattle and Tuscan Rose and haven't been disappointed yet. Need to read the rest of Belinda's novels! Love learning the historical background of Barcelona after the Civil War and Paloma's connection to la Rusa!

I have loved other books by Belinda Alexandra and so I think my expectations were too high. I did like the story but it just didn't draw me in fully. It was really well researched and represented that period of Spanish history well. I just feel the characters were not developed well enough and the plot in a way was slightly rushed and juvenile. Great imagery evoked throughout though was a highlight for me.

I enjoyed this book at least as much as her other beautiful novels. She captures the depth of humanity in her characters and shares it with us in such a lyrical and satisfying way. Thank you Belinda. Your stories are some of my favorite escapes.

I don't like this five star rating system! I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as my other five stars, but its certainly better than my fours. This historic family saga/romance centres around ballet and flamenco dance at the time of the Civil War. A very enjoyable read.

The Spanish Civil War is not something that I knew very much about, but having read one novel recently about it, and another novel by Belinda Alexander I took this on holiday with me recently. It is, like the other Alexander novel, full of characters and incidents that keep you interested. The novel skips back to the past history of a family and then forward again to the present, something which I don't usually like in a novel, but here it was essential, and the outcome kept me guessing almost until the very end. This is not a profound book, but one which is absorbing and entertaining for a holiday read. I would also try other novels by this author as a result of my enjoyment of this one.

When you pick up a Belinda Alexandra novel you know you need a few days without interruptions.This story set in Spain during the civil war, and Paris is very atmospheric, and beautifully written. So many wonderful characters.I will be recommending it to my book club and where I work at my local library.The only book I haven't read yet is "Wild Lavender" and only because I want to savour it until I know Belinda will be releasing a new novel sometime soon... please!!!A 5 plus star from me!

You will love this if you liked The Visit, love Barcelona and are interested in its history. It is a really good story well researched. It was verypoignant to me as my mother and her family had been wealthy refugees from Barcelona during the civil war.

What a belter!!! If I could give this a 10 I would. You do have to concentrate on the characters when the story is beginning to truly reveal itself but keeps you hooked. Although I am not a history lover the overall tale carried me through.

Why is Belinda Alexandra not on the list of top authors. Her books (I'm now reading my third) are the best I've read in ages and of that bred where you don't want to put down. Easily compares to Hislop and Hore. BUY you will not be disappointed. Amazon tell everyone about her books ,you're losing a fortune in not getting her publisised.

I saw a recommendation of Belinda Alexandra as being similar to Jojo Moyes, whose books I love, but on this showing she falls short. The plotting was very clunky: the central supernatural element just did not work. There were some interesting descriptions of Barcelona before and during the Spanish Civil war, but the characters were, for me, unconvincing.

I am still reading this book. Great story however found going between time zones and characters so metimes confusing.

This is a well written book with little twists in the story. Couldn't put it downReally enjoyable

Initially difficult to tie the character's together as the story evolved through various periods of time. Good picture of war.

This is the second book I have read by this author. Its a 'can't put downer'. Beautifully written. The amount of research that must have been carried out is impressive and its a wonderful way of learning about this culture and history.

Recommended by a friend - feared it was out of print but glad to get a second hand edition. It arrived quickly and was in good order

Golden Earrings is very good to read. Good story, well written but oh, so confusing that I needed to constantly use a pencil and a piece of paper to keep track of all the new characters entering the pages, as I was getting myself deeper into the story of the book. Too bad, but a bit too many of them involved.

I had to force myself to put this book down. I was caught up in the story from the beginning. I liked that the story was about the history of a young dancers family during the Spanish revolution and how it affected her life as she became aware of it.I had read Tuscan Rose by the same author and loved it too.

Excellent read, loved the setting it had romance and intrigue as well as a factual based story line. This is the second Belinda Alexanra book I have read and enjoyed both. I loved the setting and the period.

Didn't want it to end.