Mondays Book Talk - The Barefoot Queen

Written by MikeH

The Barefoot Queen by Ildelfonso Falcones 

The Barefoot Queen is another historical thriller by Spanish author Ildefonso Falcones, which brings to life a little-told story: the saga of the Spanish gypsies in 18th-century Bourbon Spain, their culture, and their persecution. Romance, friendship, betrayal, music, dance, smuggling, cruelty and savagery – are all themes present in this historical thriller. 

The busy tale begins with the arrival of Caridad in Seville, Spain. She is an African slave from Cuba liberated but stranded on board the ship following the death of her master. She’s rescued after weeks of abuse at the hands of various brutal white men by a man named Melchor, patriarch of the Vega clan of gypsies. Most of the action involves this odd couple, plus Melchor’s daughter, Ana, and granddaughter, Milagros Carmona. 

This group are separated by the mass roundup of gypsies in 1749: Ana, like thousands of others, is jailed and endures years of torment; from prison, she disowns Milagros for marrying Pedro Garcia, whose family has an ancient blood feud with the Vegas. There is no question about who is in the right, as Pedro proves to be a cruelly abusive husband. When Milagros’ talents as a dancer and singer take them to Madrid, Pedro begins by cheating on her and ends by pimping her by force to aristocrats. When Melchor vows vengeance against Milagros's abuser Pedro, both Melchor's and Caridad's life are put at risk.

The Barefoot Queen is a well-written book, and the author has researched his subject well including the historical detail, however, this novel appeared to me incredibly difficult to get through. The narrative is overly broad and slow moving. Being passionate about historical fictions, I felt the story behind this novel lacks the focus and momentum that made “The Cathedral of the Sea” so successful. As the story goes, one can note it is full of never-ending tragedy, violence and melodramas which can make the reader lose interest in the book quite easily. 

Another aspect which caught my attention is the title, somehow misleading as "The Barefoot Queen” is not made known until towards the end of the book. As a reader, I was given little knowledge that this refers only to Milagros Carmona, although the story centres as well on the other characters. 

Moving forward in the book, one can actually perceive how Falcones attempted to give his readers a good overview about this turbulent period in Spanish history and gypsy life. The subject matter has great potential for an enjoyable and compelling read, however despite the entire author’s effort, this thriller failed to hold my attention. 

I will leave it up to each of you to have your own opinion about The Barefoot Queen.