If One Day We Return

A Novel

De: María Dueñas, Simon Bruni

From the bestselling author of The Time In Between comes a sweeping historical saga of an immigrant’s rags-to-riches journey as she struggles to anchor herself in foreign land across three tumultuous decades.

Deeply harrowing circumstances force Cecilia Belmonte to leave her impoverished Spanish village and cross the Mediterranean to settle in Oran, a French Algerian city where she knows no one. She carries stolen identity papers, her body and soul burdened with confusion and pain.

Laboring on plantations and in laundries and factories, Cecilia navigates devastating twists of fate as she strives to rebuild a life of her own making. What begins as a modest operation of manufacturing soap with two Spanish refugees soon evolves into a flourishing enterprise. The advent of World War II and the arrival of American soldiers stationed in Algeria will change the course of Cecilia’s life once again—and for years to come.

In an emotionally gripping novel of resilience, love, courage, and the heartbreaking loss of home that spans decades, María Dueñas weaves intimate human drama with seismic historical events, creating an unforgettable portrait of a woman who refuses to be broken.

©2026 María Dueñas (P)2026 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.