BookBrowse Reviews Winter In Madrid: A vivid and haunting depiction of wartime Spain

This historical fiction novel – a bestseller when released in the U.K. in 2006 – has all the elements of a good read: action, suspense, and even a bit of romance – though the pace falls a bit short of the mark. While the book overall was entertaining, it wasn't until the final third that it became hard to put down.

The book centers around four main characters whose lives are intertwined: Harry, his old classmates Bernie and Sandy, and Barbara, Bernie's ex-lover, and Sandy's current paramour. It is Sandy, however, who is left out of the third person narration, as the book switches from the perspectives of the other three. This makes Sandy's already shady persona even more suspect.

Sansom brings to life an era that's likely unfamiliar to many. He sets the mood and easily evokes the horrors of wartime with simple descriptions. In...