I struggled with this Galician novel, so much so that I more or less gave up towards the end, finding it beyond me to invest any more time trying to follow the convoluted narrative and the many literary and historical references that pepper the text. There were so many that meant nothing to me that I eventually gave up researching them as it slowed down the reading too much. The novel tells the story of Vincenzo Fontana, the elderly owner of the long-established Terranova Bookstore, threatened with enforced closure due to his landlord’s greed. He spends what seems to be his last night there surrounded by the books and memories of his past 70 years. The shop had previously been run by his father and uncle and became renowned for its championing of banned books. The narrative rambles and meanders in time and space, with many digressions, with chapters ranging from Fontana’s boyhood polio, to the rise of fascism, to the Civil War, to the post-Franco Galicia of the 1970s to the present. This is a lot of ground to cover and without at least some prior knowledge hard to keep track of. An introduction giving some context to the work would have been useful and much appreciated by me at least. It’s a novel about books and bookshops and stories and reading set against a background of politics and historical events, but too incoherent for me to deal with. I could see that there was merit in the writing but essentially much of it went over my head. My loss, perhaps.

I was excited to read a book translated from Galician (original title El Último Día de Terranova) and about a bookstore whose name refers to the place I live. Thanks to Archipelago and Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A regretful DNF at 42% but the issue is on my side. I feel that the author Manuel Rivas is writing from a place of erudition and reference that is beyond my literary and political knowledge. The story is that a family run bookstore owned by Vicenzo is closing and he goes backward in time reminiscing about the time when the bookstore was a conduit for smuggling of anti-establishment books across the Atlantic during Franco's regime. The settings leapfrog from Galicia to Madrid to Coimbra and beyond, the time looping continuously to different points of history with significant political and social changing landscapes. The literary references came fast and furious which I diligently looked up at first then became hopelessly lost. A salute to Manuel Rivas and translator Jacob Rogers for floating this literary life raft over, I am sorry I couldn't board it for the entirety of the journey but do feel enriched and chastened to broaden my literary horizons more.

This book is the ultimate love letter written for bookstores, books, literature and library. Its beautiful, melancholic and sad. It gave warmth with beautiful proses, appreciation for the literatures. Its one of those books where you felt so much love for this art. Though, the story can get slow at times and draggy, i still think its a good story.

Somehow, whenever a book has bookstores or anything book-related I always end up enjoying it, naturally this is also one of those books.

Well I did give this a chance, but it wasn't for me. It's very bitty in being set in multiple locations and times, but even within those sections it can be schizophrenically looping from one thought to another, one occasion to another, and from memory to reality and back. Also, the bookseller character does like to reference volumes and authors and quotes that probably don't travel outside the Spanish-speaking worlds at all well, either – they certainly bested me. If you have the specialist knowledge of Spanish literature and post-Franco politics, then snap this up. But coming from the POV of the humble general browser it doesn't work.

Since I'm a sucker for stories with bookstores as background, I was drawn to this. Once again, archipelago books presents a treasure, a beautifully translated work heretofore unavailable in English. I learned recently that archipelago is not-for-profit, which makes me love them and their presentations even more. Manuel Rivas, the author, is contemporary, from Galicia, but kudos also to translator Jacob Rogers for doing such a fine job in bringing this mixture of history, memory and current event to life.

Terranova, the bookshop, earns its name from Terrranova , the place; i.e. today's Newfoundland, Canada. Vincenzo's maternal grandfather had chance to go to "the seas between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland" and must have been well struck with its name. The bookshop got passed to Vincenzo's father Amaro Fontana, the great Polytropos of his time, and his wife Comba and years later fell into Vincenzo's hands, somewhere in Galicia. The demise of this bookshop was now immeniently threatened when Vincenzo himself was old, and this is where this work of historical fiction begins.

So saying, the Terranova was rather a book itself, revealing all manner of tales and secrets. This is where the story weaves and wobbles at random, at least for me, I had great difficulty following much of the storyline. However, fear was a big factor - almost a thriller caliber in which some of those folks lived. This was due mainly because of their government's and religious powers-that-be, actions against its citizens. Spanish Inquisition type of fear mongering. Banned books confiscated and citizens exterminated at whim, even for an intellectual's line of poetry.

Smuggled books seemed to find their way to Terranova's safe keeping, if not to its shelves. Lots of debates from interesting visitors; real and/or imagined stories within stories issued forth from within those walls and bookshelves.

I didn't really care for this book's story though, especially when foul language was used. It also seemed like a short story made long. However, others who love authors of old that speak of Mirasol, Odessus, Polytropos and such, may favor having a go at this book.

In the end, one finds out what happened to this Terranova that had seen many a day. Could it be saved, even as it had tried to save others in its bosom?

~ Eunice C., Reviewer|Blogger ~

August 2022

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.

“I can picture the eyes poring over the last of the books, weighing their value, their health, color, musculature, and the state of their spines, meanwhile the books are in a state of shock as they feel the ground vanish out from under them.”

The Last Days of Terranova by Manuel Rivas (translated by Jacob Rogers) revolves around a family-owned bookstore in Galicia, Spain that is facing closure and the property to be handed over to real estate developers. As the story begins, we meet Vicenzo Fontana in 2014 as he broods over the imminent closure of The Terranova Bookstore, that has been in his family for decades, the fruition of his mother Comba’s dream to own her bookstore - the plans for which started taking shape in 1935. Her father, Vincenzo’s grandfather, worked very hard, in his lifetime, to make her dreams come true. Finally in 1946, she opened the store, marrying her husband Amaro the following year.

The story of the Terranova Bookstore and its owners is inextricably linked to the changing political and social landscape of the country and the surrounding region and moves through the years of the Francoist regime and the censorship of literature and the exile of intellectuals through the years to the democratic transition in the 1970s and the present day plagued by failing local independent businesses and economic recession. The narrative moves back and forth between various points of time in the past and the present day.

Vicenzo is dejected as he prepares for the liquidation of his inventory. He spends the last few days in his store with his dog, a few of the family's long time employees (who are more like family than staff) , and a new friend who has turned to him for help. As he prepares for the closure of the store and his imminent eviction from the property his memories take him back to the people and the events that have shaped his life.

“What did it matter if one bookstore closed, when so many other shops were closing too? A hole, an empty space, another hole. Emptiness grows, but due to its nature no one notices its reign until they find themselves trapped inside it. The eviction of souls, the cheapening of the imagination, the loss of oxygen.”

Vincenzo’s father, Amaro, a scholar of classical languages known for his passion for Homer’s Odyssey and a member of the Seminary of Galician Studies, loses his teaching job during the regime and devotes his time to the bookstore and writing articles under the pseudonym “Polytropos”, hosting intellectuals and facilitating debates and discussions and along with Vincenzo's Uncle Eliseo, facilitates the smuggling of banned books by emigrants and travelers in false bottomed suitcases across the seas and borders. They earn the reputation of a “banned book provider “, acquiring books written by authors in exile and translations of international works banned in Francoist Spain, braving inquiries, interrogations, informants and targeted raids through the years. Vincenzo, having suffered from polio and undergone a long, painful treatment using Iron Lung apparatus in the Marine Sanitarium as a child, found comfort among the shelves of the bookstore where his love for books and reading was nurtured. He also dreamed of leaving Galicia and did spend some of his early adult years in Madrid, returning with his friend Garua, an Argentinian revolutionary on the run, when it becomes unsafe for them to remain in Madrid in the aftermath of General Franco’s demise in the mid-1970s, gradually becoming more involved with the store.

The vivid descriptions of the bookstore with its owners and their friends, family and patrons, the historical backdrop and the numerous literary references make for an absorbing read. It does take a bit of effort to get used to the jumping timelines. Though we meet several characters whose stories are interwoven throughout the novel, nowhere did I feel that the author digressed from the main narrative and I did not lose interest at any point. With its beautiful prose and nostalgic tone, superb characterizations and relevant themes, this is an immersive and thought-provoking read that not only highlights the role of bookstores, books and literature in the lives of those who find comfort and solace in reading but also emphasizes power of the written word in preserving history and instigating change and advancement of society as a whole. This was my first time reading Manuel Rivas and I was not disappointed!

“The link between a person’s life and what they like to read is unpredictable. According to the saying, we are what we read. But it could just as easily be said that we are what we don’t read.”

Many thanks to Archipelago Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is due to be released on October 11. 2022.

Bookshops being closed is a sad affair and Manuel Rivas, the great Galician author in his new books tells the beautiful and nostalgic story of Terranova bookstore on the day it is set to close. The Last Days of Terranova is a love song for bookshops , a place of solace with sweet and sad memories.
In the book we get flashbacks of the bookstore and its stories from 1930 to 2014, we learn the history of the bookshop, the owners and history of spain.