About the Author

Lydie Salvayre is a former psychiatrist, who grew up near Toulouse after her exiled republican parents fled Franco's regime. As a child she spoke Spanish, only learning French after starting school. She studied medicine and specialised as a psychiatrist in Marseille, before beginning to write at the end of the 70's, with her first works appearing in literary reviews in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille around the beginning of the 1980's. Her novel La Compagnie des spectres won the Prix Novembre in 1997 and was named Book of the Year by Lire. Pas Pleurer won the Prix Goncourt in 2014.

Reviews

Lydie Salvayre orchestrates her story like a true maestro - BibliObsThe great originality of this novel ... is the blending of the universal and personal experiences of the Spanish Civil War - FigaroA turbulent, magnificent novel that shines a new light on the Spanish Civil War. It resonates with the power of a manifesto for modern times - ExpressLydie Salvayre has cultivated a resounding anger... Cry, Mother Spain is the novel and the tribute of an impassioned voice - LiberationLydie Salvayre creates a dynamic harmony in a language that elevates grit, heroism and beauty - Le MondeA magnificent novel. A brilliantly written family saga and a mesmerising study of memory and historical reconstruction - El MundoLydie Salvayre has written a novel about the Spanish Civil War unlike any other. Her approach gives her story an astonishing power and a unique perspective - ABC CulturalA seriously important novel ... The novel Pasolini would have written had he been the son of Spanish exiles - Time Out Barcelona