Cathedral of the Sea – Ildefonso Falcones
Barcelona in the fourteenth century is a city of wealth and power, but also of great inequality. Into this world comes Bernat Estanyol, a peasant who flees the cruelty of his feudal lord and escapes to the city with his infant son, Arnau, in search of freedom.
Cathedral of the Sea, the acclaimed debut novel by Spanish author Ildefonso Falcones, follows Arnau as he grows from a poor child into a man. As a boy, he works as a bastaix, one of the porters who carry enormous stones on their backs to build the great church of Santa María del Mar, the cathedral of the sea that is being raised by and for the ordinary people of the city’s waterfront. Through hard work, courage and fortune, Arnau rises in society, becoming a soldier and later a wealthy and respected money changer.
But success brings dangerous enemies. Arnau faces jealousy, betrayal, war, plague, forbidden love and the terrifying power of the Inquisition, while the past he and his father fled continues to threaten him. Throughout his struggles, the cathedral remains a symbol of faith, hope and the collective spirit of the people.
Rich in historical detail, the novel vividly recreates medieval Catalonia, with its guilds, nobles, merchants, wars and religious tensions.
Epic and absorbing, Cathedral of the Sea is a must-read for lovers of historical fiction and was adapted into a television series. It contains violence and mature themes.
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