Tips for Older Adults: La vida cuando era nuestra (Spanish Edition)

A Tribute to Reading: The Story of Two Women

The life that once was ours is a tribute to reading, but it is above all the story of two women - one who knows little about life, and another who perhaps knows too much. "I long for the life that was once ours," comments Lola as she busies herself in the kitchen of her home. That life, which was so much hers and so full of hope, was made up of books and coffee chats, languid siestas, and projects to build a country, Spain, as it learned the rules of democracy.

But then came a day in 1936 when living became a pure act of resistance, and now, fifteen years later, all that remains is a small, half-hidden secondhand bookstore in a Madrid neighborhood, where Lola and her husband Matías come each morning to sell romantic novellas, forgotten classics, and colored pencils to anyone who approaches.

It is here, in this modest place, that one afternoon in 1951, Lola will meet Alice, a woman who has found her reason for living in books. Following the gaze of Lola and Alice, seeing them seated behind the poor counter and reading the same book together, we will go far away, to England, and back in time, to the early 20th century, to meet a girl who grew up wondering about her parents.

The critics have said... "The life that once was ours recalls a Europe that was once more than just a market, a true symbol of culture, the book, and humanism, despite the cruelties of its wars." - ABC

"Marian Izaguirre [...] makes the stories of the lives of some and others, situated in different times and places, advance relentlessly through a sophisticated mechanism in which each story pushes the others forward. [...] The life that once was ours is a very attractive novel and a declaration of love for books and booksellers." - elcorreo.com

"Izaguirre navigates the lives of her protagonists, playing with the simplicity of the everyday, as if the sea were always calm, while the great conflicts and the miseries and grandeurs of humanity take their place." - elperiodicodigital.com

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