The writer Andres Pascual, born in Logroño in 1969 has obtained this past Wednesday the Alfonso X El Sabio Historical Novel Award, with his novel titled "Taj", which will be published by Editorial Espasa on September 6.
They have awarded him this award on the grounds that «Against the backdrop of the construction of the Taj Mahal, Andres Pascual build a round novel, of love and improvement, which leaves the reader very satisfied ». This award has been awarded by a jury made up of Soledad Puértolas, Almudena de Arteaga, Javier Moro, Javier Negrete and Ana Rosa Semprún.
Alfonso X El Sabio Historical Novel Award
This important award was born fifteen years ago promoted by MR Ediciones and the Caja Castilla la Mancha Foundation. Today it is awarded by the Espasa publishing house and is endowed with a prize of 30.000 euros.
Some of the winners years ago They have been Almudena de Arteaga, Ángeles Irisarri, César Vidal, Jorge Molist, Alberto Vázquez Figueroa, Jesús Sánchez Adalid, Fernando García de Cortázar, José María Pérez Peridis or Reyes Monforte, among others.
In this 15th edition, a total of 164 novels were presented.
The novel «Taj»
Just before the beautiful Hindustani Empress Mumtaz Mahal closed her eyes forever, her husband promised to honor her memory with the most beautiful monument ever built. Taj it is the story of that magnificent work and of its twenty thousand heroes: architects, calligraphers, master craftsmen and workers who, perched on the back of elephants, dragged the huge blocks of marble. An epic narrative seen through the eyes of Balu, a boy from the desert with extraordinary gifts for drawing who will face all conventions to recover his beloved Aisha, secluded in the sovereign's harem.
The author: Andrés Pascual
He said the following upon learning of the ruling that made him the winner of said award:
"DI would like to thank the members of the jury for having chosen this handful of pages among so many novels presented, giving me the opportunity to share a roster with winning authors from previous editions whom I admire".
He is the author of other books such as "The keeper of the lotus flower" o "The haiku of lost words".
I think the novel is going to be very successful. That beautiful palace dedicated to love has always fascinated me. When it goes on sale I'm going to buy it. Thanks for the info..