Los gozos y las sombras

The Joys and the Sorrows.

Los gozos y las sombras in English means The Joys and Sorrows. This TV adaption of the books by Gonzalo Torrente Ballester is set in the years before the Spanish Civil War, the story is centred on the return of a man who had left the fictional village many years ago, and the impact of his return to the fishing village.

I finished watching the series last night, Sept 9th. the episode where the village turns out to witness the rescue of the vessel Marianna iii as she struggles in the stormy seas is typical of many such villages anywhere we men fish. My short story Lifeboat heroes on sale as Draft2Digital retells the story of one of my late uncle's  who was involved in such a rescue in the late 70's with the Teesmouth lifeboat; also the story on the Christian short stories link tells a similar story about men fighting the seas, this was inspired by the hymn "Child, your cries have awoken the Master."

One of my fave actresses from Spain, Charo Lopez, has a central role as the romantic interest in the series. My first viewing of Ms. Lopez was in the movie Secretos del Corazon (Secrets of the Heart) by Montxo Armendariz. This too was set before the Spanish civil war and also features Vicky Pena.