The Moon of Innocence

Main Course
**** of *****
I enjoyed this aptly titled, sad little tale. Maria Ruiz is a lovely, innocent, virginal maiden, the only child of older parents, all living in Catalonia,  in a remote and backwards village far from a major city in 1963. Franco has made his mark on the area, and during its recovery he is insisting that everyone abandon the provincial dialect for Castillian Spanish, leaving local dialects to die out or be spoken only in the home. Maria is being tenaciously pursued by Cesar Rojas, a handsome young man who wants to become a poet - an odd life choice for a bastard being raised by his illiterate uncle in the countryside. Cesar works for Don Roberto who has a villa that he visits several times a year and Don Roberto allows Cesar free reign of his home and library full of amazing books in Spanish and German, mentoring the boy.  The smitten Cesar pursues Maria with poetry, romance, and the ill considered help of Maria's employer, a rich American woman who has mistakenly built the home of her dreams in the wrong place, too far from anyone or anything. The book is lovingly crafted, the characters vivid, and the locale beautiful but the best part of the book is the ending... a surprise ending, meticulously wrought through tiny hints and allusions throughout the book.