Heart of Tango - Couverture rigide

'A sad and magical story... Barceló recaptures the past, restoring a voice which has all but disappeared... The novel moves as gracefully as a beautiful tango, in perfect rhythm. And its readers move with it' Maria José Obiol, El País.

'An evocative historical novella, and the lively pace of its plot - built around two dancing couples who are destined to meet on some metaphoric dance floor - drives things along towards a surprising conclusion' Chris Moss, Times Literary Supplement.

'Heart of Tango is a ghost-cum-love story, slipping effortlessly between past and present in luscious prose that echoes the sinuousness of the dance itself... The story takes many complicated steps back and forth, leaving the reader dizzy with elation, and enthralled by the possibilities presented' Alannah Hopkin, Irish Examiner.

'Barcelo captures perfectly the shoddy edges of the city, the rivalry between neighbourhood tango bands and the clubs where knife-wielding immigrants rub besuited shoulders with well-heeled aristos, all equally smitten with the new dance... Tango dancers, who like to keep their passions under control, will adore this book' Time Out Book of the Week. --Reviews.

Natalia is to be married to a German sailor much older than herself, but two days before the wedding she meets Diego, a mysterious young dancer, and they fall immediately in love. When he serenades her on the eve of the ceremony, Natalia's father unwittingly invites him to the festivities. There they dance a tango charged with passion, before Diego vanishes, knowing she is lost to him. Soon after the marriage Natalia father dies, and her husband is lost at sea, presumed dead. Penniless and alone, she endures a desperate existence until she becomes a dancer in a tango hall. Diego discovers her there and vows to bring her away from this existence, but their reunion has devastating consequences. Many years later, the spirit of the dance and the lovers’ longing for each other draws together two strangers in a haunting meeting, a fusion of time and identities, despair and hope.