Winter in Madrid

By: C. J. Sansom

Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Abridged edition, narrated by Simon Russell Beale.

From the bestselling author of the Shardlake series, C. J. Sansom, comes Winter in Madrid, a standalone historical novel set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

1940: The Spanish Civil War is over, and Madrid lies ruined, its people starving, while the Germans continue their relentless march through Europe. Britain now stands alone while General Franco considers whether to abandon neutrality and enter the war.

Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett: a traumatized veteran of Dunkirk turned reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of old school friend Sandy Forsyth, now a shady Madrid businessman, Harry finds himself involved in a dangerous game – and surrounded by memories.

Meanwhile Sandy's girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged on a secret mission of her own – to find her former lover Bernie Piper, a passionate Communist in the International Brigades, who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama.

In a vivid and haunting depiction of wartime Spain, Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom is an intimate and compelling tale which offers a remarkable sense of history unfolding, and the profound impact of impossible choices.

© C.J. Sansom; (P) Macmillan Publishers Ltd

Critic reviews

"Sansom adroitly draws the disparate strands of his ambitious saga together. His non-pareil evocations of time and place anchor his characters with satisfying precision" (Independent)
"Few authors have the ability, or capacity for research, which allows them to capture the mood and atmosphere of a period in history, so when one does, and does it as well as CJ Sansom in Winter in Madrid, then they deserve not only praise but success." (Tony Galvin, Dublin Evening Herald)

Good story - perhaps too abridged

A well written and narrated novel set around the Spanish Civil war. It explains a little of the history and atmosphere at the time in the natural flow of the story.

Nicely narrated and an easy listen it is perhaps too harshly abridged when compared with Dominion by the same author on Audible that was much better as unabridged.

A riveting story excellently narrated

I put off this book for a while, fearing a boring "costume drama". But this is anything but. It is the story of 3 men who went to public school in England together, and who meet in Spain during WWII in varying circumstances. The book jumps between various time periods (which can sometimes be confusing -- I wish the narrator had more clearly separated these sections) but which gives a fascinating insight into the characters. It is a spy story, a love story and a war story. Finally, the narration here is simply the best I have heard. By subtely altering his voice the narrator makes the characters come alive in the listener's mind without overdoing it. Pace is perfect, and the narration becomes "transparent" as you become afixed to the story.