forms of love
forms of love is a narrative novel written by the Madrid author and journalist Inés Martín Rodrigo. The work was published by the publisher Destination in 2022. Later she rose as the winner of the Nadal Award of the same year. Martín Rodrigo's book unfolds in a moving way through a family history that reveals secrets and different ways of loving.
On occasions, the author has been asked if the protagonist of forms of love and his experiences are based on his own life. About, Martín Rodrigo has said: "We both have many things in common, the main one, the passion for literature, the letters read and written, which have always sheltered us in the worst moments…”.
Synopsis of forms of love
about the argument
forms of love It is a chronicle about the family of Bollard, the protagonist. This character is consumed with grief over losing both of his beloved grandparents, Carmen and Tomás, who died suddenly. Her grief and hopelessness plunge Noray into her family home, that place where she learned to love, where her loved ones taught her the language of love.
Against the background of despair and deep sadness, Noray withdraws and takes refuge in writing to endure the pain. At the same time, the protagonist decides to shape a novel that she has wanted to tell for many years, a book that she has always wanted to write. The story that her work tells is the one that the reader of forms of love is going to read, that of his family.
About the plot
Ismael is a man who is married to star, a woman who doesn't understand why her husband is so interested in a girlfriend from the past. When Ismael finds out that Noray is in the hospital —in serious condition as a result of his suicide attempt— do not hesitate to go to her.
In the room where the young woman rests, the man finds a manuscript. When starting to read realizes that it is a novel that also involves it. In the book, Noray describes Ismael as the love of her life, and tells of an ambivalent past. However, through the words of the protagonist, Ishmael begins to think about whether or not it is too late to direct his destiny. At the same time he feels guilty for leaving Noray.
About the context
forms of love is a novel that It talks about family and love. His characters fiercely seek to resolve internal conflicts latent, how to adjust their problems between what they think and what they feel. All is carried out according to a society marked by war, the postwar period, migration, the structuring of democracy and other national details that define the era.
Meanwhile Inés Martín Rodrigo develops the plot of her narrative through the work written by her own protagonist, which narrates the history of Spain. The nation's climate is defined by people who don't want to look back, but who must to learn from their mistakes.
Noray works as chronicler which interweaves various stories related to the people and their village.
main characters of forms of love
Ismael
It could be said that Ishmael is the character that opens this novel. Thanks to him, the reader is able to discover the history of Noray, and, at the same time, that of the people and many other people who are torn between incongruous feelings and actions. By reading the book of his old love, Ishmael understands where his true vocation and his real love are.
Bollard
Noray lies in a hospital bed, so she doesn't directly interact with other characters. Nevertheless, it is possible to know her and all her stories thanks to her book. The protagonist talks about the past, about her love for her grandparents, about the idyllic affection she feels for Ismael, which can be defined as romantic, a fact of fate. She plunges into the subjective memory and charts her course based on it.
Carmen and the wives
In her story, Noray describes her grandmother Carmen as a woman who had to emigrate to Madrid with her husband in order to survive. Carmen He is a strong person who did not have the opportunity to satisfy his academic needs because of the historical context in which he lived. Throughout her life, this character meets Margarita and Filomena (the comadres), inseparable friends who love her without conditions.
Thomas and Sixtus
Tomás is Noray's grandfather, and Sixto is the brother of this man. Both had to separate because of the war, and they grew up missing each other from a distance. However, thanks to the words written by the protagonist, it can be seen how the love between these characters never disappeared.
Filomena
Filomena is a woman through whom the great effect that literature has on the protagonist and the people of the town can be appreciated. She It is a reference of love for letters, literature and teaching.
About the author, Inés Martín Rodrigo
Ines Martin Rodrigo
Inés Martín Rodrigo was born in 1983, in Madrid, Spain. The author graduated in journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid. After graduating he worked as a member in the Culture section of the Cultural ABC for 14 years. Later she collaborated in the cultural program RNE. In 2019 she was selected to work in the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development.
Currently, Agnes Martín Rodrigo works together with the team of the “Abril” supplement of the Iberian Press. When the writer was 14 years old, Aurora Rodrigo, her mother, who introduced her to reading, and thanks to which she was inspired to write later, died. forms of love, work that won the Nadal Award in 2022.
Other books by Inés Martín Rodrigo
- Blue are the hours. Espasa (2016);
- Random House (2016);
- short stories anthology Pale Fire (2017);
- A shared room: conversations with great writers. (2020);
- Three sisters (2020)