This novel is about the relationship between Ramón Serrano Suñer and Sonsoles Icaza y León.
Ramón Serrano Suñer was Franco's brother-in-law as he was married to Carmen Polo's sister. Ramón Serrano Suñer (12 September 1901 – 1 September 2003), was a Spanish politician during the first stages of the Francoist dictatorship, between 1938 and 1942. He was also the brother-in-law of Francisco Franco's wife Carmen Polo, for which he was informally nicknamed Cuñadísimo.
María Sonsoles de Icaza y de León, Marquise of Llanzol (Ávila, 13 de August 1914-Madrid, 21 dJanuary 1996), was a Spanish aristocrat and muse of Cristóbal Balenciaga. Sonsoles was married to Franciscco de Paula Díez de River, Marquis of Llanzol.
Serrano was married to Ramona "Zita" Polo, and they had six children.
Serrano worked in Santa Cruz Palace. The Palacio de Santa Cruz or Palace of the Holy Cross is a baroque building in central Madrid, Spain. It now houses the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
Sonsoles was the muse of Balenciaga, who she considered a good friend. Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre (21 January 1895 – 23 March 1972) was a Spanish fashion designer, and the founder of the Balenciaga clothing brand.
Vladzio d'Allainville was Balenciaga's partner.
Colonel Beigbeder was the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he is told to have fallen in love with the spy Rosalinda Powell Fox. Juan Luis Beigbeder y Atienza (31 March 1888 – 6 June 1957) was a Spanish military and political leader who held the positions of Chief of Indigenous Affairs and later High Commissioner in the Protectorate of Morocco from 1937 to 1939 then, just after the Spanish Civil War, served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 12 August 1939 and 16 October 1940, during the rule of Francisco Franco. Beigbeder was accused of having a weakness for foreign women, including an English friend, Rosalinda Powell Fox, who might have been a spy, and was put under house arrest in Ronda.
The book includes the interview between Franco and Hitler in Hendaya. The Meeting of Hendaye took place between Francisco Franco and Adolf Hitler on 23 October 1940 at the railway station in Hendaye, France. The meeting was also attended by the respective foreign ministers, Ramón Serrano Suñer of Francoist Spain and Joachim von Ribbentrop of Nazi Germany. The object of the meeting was to attempt to resolve disagreements over the conditions for Spain to join the Axis Powers in their war against the British Empire. However, after seven hours of talks, the Spanish demands still appeared extortionate to Hitler: the handing over of Gibraltar once the British were defeated; the cession of French Morocco and part of French Algeria; the attachment of French Cameroon to the Spanish colony of Guinea; and large quantities of food, petrol and arms to relieve the critical economic and military situation faced by Spain after the Spanish Civil War.
There is a reference to Himmler's visit to Spain, and how he thought the Holy Grail could be found in Montserrat. Himmler's stay in Spain took place between 19 and 24 October.
The book mentions the executions in Monjuic Castle. The former president of the Generalitat Lluis Company and former Minister Julian Zugazagoitia were executed.
Lluís Companys, the President of Catalonia's Generalitat, was executed by a firing squad on October 15, 1940, at Montjuïc Castle in Barcelona. This execution occurred after he was arrested in France, handed over to the Franco regime, and subjected to a military trial without proper legal representation.
Julián Zugazagoitia Mendieta (5 February 1899, Bilbao – 9 November 1940, Madrid) was a Spanish journalist and politician. After the war, he fled to France, but in 1940 was arrested by the Gestapo, handed over to Spain and executed.
Sonsoles's eldest sister was Carmen de Icaza, who was a journalist and writer. María Carmen de Icaza y de León (17 May 1899 – 16 March 1979) was a Spanish journalist and novelist from 1935–60. She enjoyed success with her 1936 novel, Cristina Guzmán, which was subsequently adapted for the stage, television and cinema. By 1945, she was a best-selling writer in Spain.
The book refers to the train accident in Velilla, Aragon. It happened on December 3, 1940. It was the most serious train accident in Aragon.
When Sonsoles goes to the hair saloon, Celia Gamez is there. Celia Gámez Carrasco (August 25, 1905 – December 10, 1992) was an Argentine film actress, and one of the icons of the Golden Age of Spanish theatre.
Alfonso XIII died in Rome even though his sympathisers asked Franco to let him come to Spain to die. On 15 January 1941, Alfonso XIII renounced his rights to the defunct Spanish throne in favour of Juan. He died in Rome on 28 February that year following weeks in agony after a first severe attack of angina pectoris.
Alfonso XIII's successor is his son, Juan de Borbon.
Serrano was rumoured to have had an affair with Concha Piquer. María de la Concepción Piquer López (13 December 1906 – 12 December 1990), better known as Concha Piquer, was a Spanish singer and actress.
Lee De Forest did synchronized sound filming with her. Lee De Forest is renowned for his contributions to both radio and motion pictures, particularly his development of the Phonofilm system for synchronized sound-on-film.
Concha Marquez was in a relationship with bullfighter Antonio Marquez, who was married and had a child.
Sonsoles was friends with Antonio Lara, Tono, who founded the magazine 'La Codorniz'. Antonio Lara de Gavilán (22 September 1896 – 4 January 1978), mostly known by his pen name Tono, was a Spanish graphic artist, editorial cartoonist and author of comic theatre. He assisted Mihura in the establishment of another satirical magazine, La Codorniz, in 1941.
When the Nazis invaded Russia, Franco sent volunteers to Russia, a unit called 'Blue Division'. The 250th Infantry Division (was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain operating from 1941 to 1943 within the German Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer Division (División Española de Voluntarios) by the Spanish Army.
Muñoz Grandes was in charge of this unit. Agustín Muñoz Grandes (27 January 1896 – 11 July 1970) was a Spanish general, and politician, vice-president of the Spanish Government and minister with Francisco Franco several times; also known as the commander of the Blue Division between 1941 and 1942.
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart was the ambassador in London at the time. Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Falcó, 17th Duke of Alba, (17 October 1878 – 24 September 1953) was a Spanish peer, diplomat, politician, art collector and Olympic medalist. Alba became General Franco's official representative in London.
Franco wrote the script for the film "Raza", which would be directed by José Louis Sáenz de Heredia. Raza is a 1942 Spanish war film directed by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, and used as propaganda by the dictatorship of Francisco Franco in favour of the regime and against the supporters of the deposed Second Spanish Republic. It is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Spanish caudillo Francisco Franco under the pseudonym of "Jaime de Andrade."
Franco used to spend summer holidays in Ayete. Ayete Palace is a residential palace, which is found in San Sebastian. San Sebastian was a holiday town during the Francoist regime. Franco stayed at the place from 1940 to 1975.
Sonsoles and Serrano meet at Lhardy when they decide they need to stop seeing each other. Lhardy is a restaurant located at Madrid in Spain, which was opened in 1839 by Emilio Huguenin Lhardy.
After the rumours of the affair between Sonsoles and Serrano, she decides to go to the spa in Mordariz with her husband. Mondariz–Balneario is a spa town and municipality in Galicia, Spain. Originally, a simple parish (Troncoso) of the neighbouring town of Mondariz, it grew into a spa town in the late 19th century following the popularisation of its water which was reputed to have medicinal qualities.
Carmen Díez de Rivera is the daughter Sonsoles and Serrano had. Carmen Díez de Rivera y de Icaza (Madrid, 29 August 1942-Madrid, 29 November 1999) was a Spanish politician.
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