The heart that I live with
The heart with which I live is a historical novel written by the Spanish José María Pérez, better known as Peridis. It was published in 2020 and is set in the troubled Spain of 1936. From the outset, the book enjoyed excellent acceptance by readers and literary critics. In the same year of its release, it was awarded the Primavera de Novela prize.
The author expresses in the foreword of the book that was inspired by a conversation he had on the train with a stranger, who was a descendant of an old doctor from the Paredes Rubias population. He told her several anecdotes from his relatives, as well as from some neighbors. Each line of this narrative is supported by said talk, with stories and real characters complemented with some fiction.
The heart that I live with (2020)
It is a historical novel set in the community of Paredes Rubias, right at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. The book is organized en fifty short chapters, which inician en June of 1936 y end in October of 1941. The plot involves different characters, who go through different adversities, beyond the armed conflict.
The book shows how they live difficult years while the war goes on and after this culminates, but without losing hope that everything will improve. Everything happens in a really hurt Spain, but with strong people, who will fight to rescue her, based on love, family and the desire for a better future.
Beato Family
Honorio Beato is a widower and lives with his three daughters: Caridad, Esperanza and Felicidad. He is a renowned doctor who runs a clinic in Cubillas del Monte and before the war he served as head of the Spanish Falange. One time conflict started, they they decide to flee the town in order to avoid possible reprisals.
Esperanza is one of the main characters in the story. She is a political activist belonging to the Feminine Section of the Falange and a caring woman. In addition to defending his ideals, he helps his republican friends, most of whom have been sentenced to death. Despite the change in her life, she prefers to put the welfare of others before thinking about her own.
Miranda family
Arcadio Miranda is a doctor and republican, a widower with two sons, Gabriel and Lucas, and a daughter named Jovita, who works as a teacher in the town. Your family will be greatly affected by the armed confrontations, being threatened even by their own patients and acquaintances. All will be removed from their jobs to experience the consequences of that chaos.
Gabriel he is a young doctor with an impeccable career and also Councilor of the City Council. He will have to hide because he belongs to the opposing side, although he will also end up locked up. For its part, Lucas, who is in the middle of the terrible reality of his brother, is called up, a situation that he sees as an alternative to save his life, since he has privileges for his profession.
Synopsis
The story involves two families, that of Dr. Honorio Beato —Christian and Falangist— and that of the Republican Dr. Arcadio Miranda. Both had known each other from their studies at the medical academy, although they always had different political leanings. Ellos and their families they lived happy days on the eve of the pilgrimage, held annually for the day of the Virgen del Carmen.
In the middle of this festivity, all the people of the town shared meals and dances, without discriminating on which political side they were. It is there where -After many years- Esperanza Beato and Lucas Miranda meet, I find that it will bring with it more than just friendship. This without imagining that in a couple of days a terrible war would break out, which would change everything.
Opponents of the government went from being renegades to being in front and having a voice. Upon taking power, they began to persecute members of the outgoing government. La new reality brought as a consequence a terrible political and military chaos, which wiped out everything in its path.
All this complex situation caused values to emerge in people; the bravery, humility, solidarity and humanity they flourished enormously; beyond political divisions.
About the Author
José María Pérez —architect and writer known as Peridis— came to the world on Sunday, September 28, 1941 in the Cabezón de Liébana municipality (Cantabria). When I was 3 years old, his family moved to Palencia, specifically to the town of Aguilar de Campoo, place where he stayed until finishing high school.
Years later, he moved to Madrid to carry out his university studies and in 1969 he graduated as an architect. He chose this profession motivated by his interest in the preservation, protection and rescue of the Spanish artistic heritage.
Performance as an architect
Since his graduation, he has worked in the reconstruction of some temples, theaters, buildings, castles, libraries and cultural houses. For 40 years (1977 - 2017) He directed in Palencia the Santa María la Real Foundation for Historical Heritage, which allowed him to be present in several significant rehabilitations, such as:
- Francisco de los Cobos Palace in Úbeda
- Monastery of Santa María la Real in Aguilar de Campoo
- "Vasco de Quiroga" Residence Hall at the Complutense University of Madrid
Other professional jobs
peridis is widely recognized for his work as a humorous cartoonist, work that began in the seventies. He made his first cartoons based on politicians of the time, which he published in the magazine Syrian SP.
Since 1976 to date, Pérez publishes comic strips in the newspaper The country. Of this fruitful work, the author has made several compilations, and as a result, 6 books with his best illustrations have been published, highlighting: Peridis 1.2.3. 6 years until change (1977) and Trust and no bond (1996). He has also produced two comic books cartoon for TVE.
Del 2002 al 2007 presented the tv series The keys to the Romanesque en TVE. This documentary had three seasons where a half-hour tour of different historical monuments was given. After this work, Peridis also drove two other programs on the same television channel, such as: Move Mountains y The light and mystery of the cathedrals.
Literary race
He began his publications in the literary field in 1977, although it was in 2014 when he presented his first novel: Waiting for the king. Two years later, he returned with: The curse of Queen Eleanor, a narrative that continues the previous story. Since then he has written 3 other books: Even a ruin can be a hope (2017) The queen without a kingdom (2018) and The heart that I live with (2020)