“This is a beautiful book about art and love, and the passions that ignite them both.” Sarah Blake, award-winning author of Naamah and Clean Air
A feminist Shakespeare in Love reimagining of Cervantes, Dulcinea tells the story of Dolça, the fictional muse behind Don Quixote—a must-read for fans of Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd.
The daughter of a wealthy merchant, young Dolça Llull Prat is besotted with the dashing, bootstrapping Miguel Cervantes from their first meeting. Despite Miguel’s entreaties, the ever-practical Dolça, with her love of luxury and her devotion to her own art, repeatedly refuses to upend her life for him, although she always welcomes his attentions on her own terms. When Miguel renders her as the lowly Dulcinea in his great Quixote, revealing their association, he commits an unforgivable offense and their decades-long affinity is severed—until he reaches out to her one last time.
The roads of Spain are no place for a noblewoman seeking to reunite with her former lover, but Dolça needs to unburden herself of a secret. Disguised as a peasant and accompanied by her trusted nursemaid, Dolça makes the difficult trek, facing bandits, the menacing reach of the Inquisition, and her own misgivings. Will she arrive in time? And if she does, will she be able to tell Miguel what she has concealed from him for so many years?
Veciana-Suarez’s richly imagined heroine leaps from these pages as a woman of flesh and blood, one committed to both duty and desire. Dulcinea explores the choices we make in life, the regrets we harbor, and the courage we find to make amends.
“This is a beautiful book about art and love, and the passions that ignite them both.” Sarah Blake, award-winning author of Naamah and Clean Air
“Dulcinea is full of fervor and adventure, and Ana Veciana-Suarez writes with assurance and an eye for detail. The feminist reimagining we’ve always needed!” Gabriela Garcia, New York Times bestselling author of Of Women and Salt
“Dulcinea is a marvel—richly imagined, luminously written, and deftly textured. With meticulous attention to detail and a cast of characters flawed, fascinating, and indelible, Ana Veciana-Suarez recreates a lost world and invites us in.” Leonard Pitts, Pulitzer Prize–winning commentator and author of The Last Thing You Surrender
“Dulcinea is a brilliant approach to Don Quixote from the point of view of ‘the other woman.’ Ana Veciana-Suarez reimagines the world of Cervantes and the streets of old Barcelona through conflicts that are contemporary to us. The pages fly by. The reader is in the hands of a woman in search of her truth. A love story without parallels.” Armando Lucas Correa, author of the international bestsellers The German Girl and The Night Travelers
“A feminist reclamation of Don Quixote’s Dulcinea that explores what happens when the woman who inspired the character is able to confront the writer.” Kirkus Reviews
Language | English |
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Release Day | May 1, 2023 |
Release Date | May 2, 2023 |
Release Date Machine | 1682985600 |
Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
Categories | Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romance, World Literature, Historical |
Overview
A feminist Shakespeare in Love reimagining of Cervantes, Dulcinea tells the story of Dolça, the fictional muse behind Don Quixote—a must-read for fans of Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd.
The daughter of a wealthy merchant, young Dolça Llull Prat is besotted with the dashing, bootstrapping Miguel Cervantes from their first meeting. Despite Miguel’s entreaties, the ever-practical Dolça, with her love of luxury and her devotion to her own art, repeatedly refuses to upend her life for him, although she always welcomes his attentions on her own terms. When Miguel renders her as the lowly Dulcinea in his great Quixote, revealing their association, he commits an unforgivable offense and their decades-long affinity is severed—until he reaches out to her one last time.
The roads of Spain are no place for a noblewoman seeking to reunite with her former lover, but Dolça needs to unburden herself of a secret. Disguised as a peasant and accompanied by her trusted nursemaid, Dolça makes the difficult trek, facing bandits, the menacing reach of the Inquisition, and her own misgivings. Will she arrive in time? And if she does, will she be able to tell Miguel what she has concealed from him for so many years?
Veciana-Suarez’s richly imagined heroine leaps from these pages as a woman of flesh and blood, one committed to both duty and desire. Dulcinea explores the choices we make in life, the regrets we harbor, and the courage we find to make amends.