There have always been wars, unfortunately, but in the XXI century we should have learned more. This year is being hard on this aspect. After the end of the Cold War, today’s wars kill and displace people and are even more complicated. The Islamic State captured Iraq and Syria and destroyed part of Gaza. Egypt lives a repression. Libya, Yemen, half of Africa, Ukraine and so many other places. It’s really sad, because we know that conflicts are inevitable among humans, but maybe we should have learned to dialogue and not always end up using weapons, which in my view never fix anything, but only make things worse.

The novel I recommend today is PONT DE CENDRA of Raul Romeva, published by Ara Llibres It talks about the absurdity of war and the power of love. The novel is based on the true story of the lovers of Sarajevo and the experiences of the author, as a testimony to the cruelty of the war in Bosnia. I remember books as Zlata’s Diary that touched me deeply, Zlata’s Diary and PONT DE CENDRA share the feeling of absurdity in war that Raul knows how to reflect perfectly.

PONT DE CENDRA tells the story of Dragana, a ten-year-old living in Bosnia during the war, and explains through her diary the story of her brother and his girlfriend. A couple fighting in this complex framework against war and religious intolerance, and also for their love. This story transcends time and space and merges in an unusual with Natza and his trip to the volcano of the novel JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH by Jules Verne. War, death, identity and conflict link the two stories and the lives of its characters.

Raul has made a thriller and also an adventure novel. That matches with Raul’s previous novels, Retorn to Shambala and Sayonara Sushi, but I think that as a novelist he has taken a step forward knowing how to translate elegantly and closely the importance of feelings.

A novel that gets straight to the heart.

Imagine there’s no countries / It isn’t hard to do / Nothing to kill or die for / And no religion too / Imagine all the people / Living life in peace… /
You may say I’m a dreamer / But I’m not the only one / I hope someday you’ll join us / And the world will be as one