Segorbe, España, 1971

Rosario Raro holds a PhD in Hispanic philology and is a lecturer in Spanish language and creative writing at the Jaume I University of Castellón. She also holds a postgraduate degree in business communication and another in pedagogy. Her work has been translated into Catalan, Japanese and French and acclaimed by numerous literary awards. She lived for a decade in Lima, Peru. Twelve editions of her novel Volver a Canfranc (Planeta, 2015) have been published so far. Furthermore, this book reached the finals of the Valencian critics' awards and the production company Diagonal TV has acquired the audio-visual rights for its adaptation to the screen.

  • “This novel captivated me: it retrieves a part of our past that deserved to be recounted.” Luz Gabás (on Volver a Canfranc)
  • “One of those novels that is more than a novel.”  Benjamín Prado
  • “Extraordinary.” Marta Robles

Bibliography

Rosario Raro revisits the world of her bestseller, Volver a Canfranc, in this unforgettable story of love in times of war.

1944. Valentina and Franz fall passionately and impossibly in love. She is a young woman from Canfranc who collaborates with the Allies across the frontier in the Pyrenees. He is a German paratrooper. 

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Novel

Rosario Raro revisits the world of her bestseller, Volver a Canfranc, in this unforgettable story of love in times of war.

1944. Valentina and Franz fall passionately and impossibly in love. She is a young woman from Canfranc who collaborates with the Allies across the frontier in the Pyrenees. He is a German paratrooper. They belong to enemy sides and speak different languages, and the war that has fleetingly brought them together separates them abruptly and almost irreversibly. 

While a fire has reduced the town of Canfranc to ashes – although the famous international station that makes it famous has been saved – Valentina and Franz try to overcome their misery and the blows of war with a single, irreducible desire: to meet again.

Una magnífica novela sobre la trata de esclavos ambientada en la Cuba colonial y la Barcelona industrial de finales del XIX, donde la riqueza llegada de las colonias cambió para siempre el paisaje urbano y humano.

En 1875, Mauricio Sargal, un millonario antillano retornado a España, libertino y bon vivant, se ve obligado a regresar a Cuba cuando le comunican que su hermana Dulce ha desaparecido de su hacienda en Siboney. Para saber de ella tendrá que enfrentarse a su cuñado, Bartolomé Gormaz, quien fuera prófugo de la justicia y que, con el olvido de cualquier escrúpulo, ha conseguido reunir una de las mayores fortunas de todos los territorios españoles, peninsulares y de ultramar. En su búsqueda, Mauricio encontrará también el amor en la enigmática Deva, por la que sentirá una atracción irresistible.

La apacible vida de Nuria con su marido, un comercial al que no ve lo que quisiera, se altera cuando ella lee en la prensa un enigmático anuncio que le despierta su sueño de dedicarse a la escritura. Sin saber a ciencia cierta de qué se trata, acepta convertirse en la escritora anónima de las respuestas a las cartas que el consultorio radiofónico de Elena Francis recibe. Su labor parece sencilla: encargarse de responder las cartas que no da tiempo a radiar. Pero todo cambia cuando una oyente desesperada le habla de unos niños nacidos con terribles malformaciones. Nuria decide investigar su origen y destapa una trama internacional de corrupción que pondrá en jaque su vida y cambiará su destino para siempre.

The story of a mythical train station that changed the course of a  war.

March 1943. Crouching inside a secret room, several people hold their breath as they wait for the sound of German soldiers' metal-reinforced boots to recede. At the international station of Canfranc, in the Pyrenees (Spain), the swastika waves over the beach of tracks. In the middle of the darkness, Laurent Juste, chief of customs, Jana Belerma, hotel maid, and bandit Esteve Durandarte risk their lives to give them back their freedom. 

Returning to Canfranc is their story. Jana and Esteve, armed only with the courage that love gives, fought for thousands of Jewish citizens to get through this mythical station. In addition to them, other people guided by generosity decided to face terror and help them. 

For thousands of people persecuted by the Nazi regime, hope was called Canfranc.

 “This novel captivated me: it retrieves a part of our past that deserved to be recounted.” Luz Gabás

“One of those novels that is more than a novel.”  Benjamín Prado

“Extraordinary.” Marta Robles

Prizes

  • 2010 - Premio Igualdad Aranda de Duero
  • 2002 - XVI Premio de cuentos Max Aub 
  • 2002 - Segundo premio Cruzando Culturas de Badajoz
  • 2002 - Premio Magda Portal del Ministerio de la Mujer de Perú
  • 2001 - Premio Ciudad de Huelva