The novel Stolen Hours (232 pages) is divided into twenty-five chapters and set in April 1979, two years before divorce was legalized in Spain.

Lola has just arrived home. She no longer expects to receive kisses when she enters the house, as when her children were young. Her daughter, Ana, is entranced by a music show on TV and wants to be like the glamorous TV presenter. Her son, Roberto, is late and has also been getting bad marks at school recently. Lola goes into the kitchen to prepare supper for herself, her husband and Roberto, only to find the dirty crockery left by her father, Anselmo, who has lived with them for the last five years, ever since his wife died. He was an emigrant in Argentina for half a century. Roberto comes home, having just summoned up the courage to kiss the girl he likes at school, Nuria, and ask her to go out with him. Ana tells him to go and see if their grandfather has had dinner yet, but when Roberto enters his bedroom, it is to find that his grandfather is lying dead on the bed, clutching a piece of paper in his hand.

In the neighbours’ house, Damián has just got home from a long day’s work and an hour at the local pub. He summons his whole family – his wife, Rosa, his three children, Ramón, Ricardo and Rita – to come and see what he has bought: a TV antenna that will enable them to watch their black-and-white television in any part of the house they like. It takes him a while to get the new antenna working, during which he shouts at his family and slaps the children, but they are used to this by now. Ramón is Roberto’s best friend and wishes they could have a colour TV like Roberto’s family. Damián’s mother, Carme, lives with them and comes into the living room. She has problems with her memory. Ramón receives a call from Roberto to say that his grandfather has died. When Ramón tells the others, his grandmother, Carme, says he has died again – the first time, it was she who killed him.

A wake is organized for Anselmo, who is laid out in a coffin in his bedroom. Lots of people come to pay their respects, including the parish priest, Don César. They studied together as children at the local seminary; Don César went on to become a priest, Anselmo emigrated to Argentina. It seems there was some kind of lingering resentment between them. Ramón brings Nuria round, so Roberto can see her. At this point, Ramón’s grandmother enters the house, goes straight to Anselmo’s bedroom and throws herself on the coffin with the words, “Forever, forever, forever.” Damián comes to take his mother home. Rosa is waiting at home. She and Damián were once very much in love, but Damián was jealous and accused her whenever other men looked at her. When she had the children, he didn’t want her to go back to work at the local factory, so she stayed at home. Money became a problem; she always has to ask for it and say how she has spent it. She is clearly unhappy. When Damián brings his mother into the kitchen, he leaves, and his mother, Carme, who most of the time suffers from dementia, abruptly tells Rosa this is not the place for Rosa, she doesn’t feel well and should leave.

After the funeral, Lola’s family return home, laughing at the priest’s inability to sing (one of the neighbours says it’s enough to make you not want to die, listening to the priest). At this point, Lola and her husband, Antonio, both of them lawyers, abruptly announce to the children that they are going to separate. Antonio will move out. They are just waiting for the new divorce law to be approved so they can formalize the new situation, but one of the justifications for a divorce will be abandoning the family home. The children are stunned. They had been waiting until Lola’s father died, since he wouldn’t have been able to understand it, having loved his own wife so much. Later on, Roberto suddenly remembers the piece of paper his grandfather had been holding in his hand on the day he died. He recovers the piece of paper from his shirt pocket and reads in his grandfather’s handwriting, “Tell me you love me.”

Ramón and Roberto have a secret hideaway, which they have fitted out with furniture, a fridge, magazines. Most of the stuff they have there is from Roberto, but Ramón has managed to get hold of a prize possession: a condom that is reputed to have come all the way from France. Ramón is waiting for Roberto to turn up and can’t stop thinking about Nuria, who he is attracted by. Generally speaking, his interest in girls is limited to how far he can get with them and whether they will go with him to their secret hut, but with Nuria it’s different, he finds her attractive and easy to talk to. He then wonders what it will be like when his own grandmother dies. She also emigrated, at the age of twenty-two to Uruguay, she wrote letters to her sweetheart back at home, Evaristo, and after ten years she returned and they got married. Roberto comes and informs Ramón that his parents are going to get separated. Roberto thinks it’s normal for two people who no longer love each other to divorce, but Ramón thinks they should stay together, otherwise there would only be four people still married in the world.

It is a Saturday, and Damián comes home drunk, having played some games at the local pub. The family sits down to eat and watch television. Spanish TV has been broadcasting in colour for a year, but Damián won’t splash out on a colour TV unless he can pay for it up front. Nor will he buy a washing machine to save Rosa having to wash everything by hand. They watch a news programme called Informe semanal, which emits a report about some disturbances in Buenos Aires. Damián’s mother appears to recognize all the places and says how happy she was all the years she lived there, on Tango Street. Rita corrects her and says she lived in Uruguay, not Argentina. Damián tells the children to keep quiet.

Lola goes through her father’s things with the help of Ana and Roberto. Lola and Ana sort through his clothes, while Roberto is entrusted with a trunk that contains his old possessions. There are artificial flowers, ceramic plates, two old books for learning how to read, folders with papers, cigar bands and two photo albums, in one of which he comes across a hidden photograph of a pretty young woman he assumes is his grandmother, but then realizes is not the same woman as in his grandfather’s wedding photos, so it must be someone else. Ana then hands him a small key she has found, together with another piece of paper that says, “Tell me you love me.” He rummages around in the trunk and finds a medium-sized box, which the key fits exactly. Meanwhile, Antonio has taken possession of a new office, where he has sofas, pictures of American skyscrapers and standing ashtrays. From the large window overlooking the street, he catches sight of Rosa and remembers how they used to hang out together, how she then fell in love with Damián, someone all her friends thought was unsuitable for her, and how Damián extended his control over her so that they rarely saw her anymore. Lola calls to say she will travel to Argentina with Roberto to sort out her father’s business affairs, and Antonio agrees to look after their daughter, Ana, in their absence.

Roberto wants to open his grandfather’s box in private, so takes it to the secret hideaway he shares with Ramón and hides it with the key and two pieces of paper on a shelf, but when he returns after school, the box is no longer there. He confronts Ramón and Ana, but they claim to know nothing about it and assume that the box must have been stolen because it contained money. Roberto is leaving for Buenos Aires and gives Ramón his address there – his grandfather’s old apartment on Tango Street. There is then the text of a letter dated June 1941 in Santiago de Compostela and written by Carme to Anselmo, in which she confesses her love for him and her nostalgia for the time they spent together in the apartment on Tango Street, the hours he stole from his other life, and how she has now married Evaristo, is pregnant with his child and wishes to honour and respect him, even though she knows that Anselmo will always be the love of her life. Lola and Rosa bump into each other in a shop selling cosmetics. Lola is trying out a new look, and Rosa, who is not allowed by Damián to wear make-up, is simply looking to see what there is. They have a coffee, and Lola explains that she and Antonio are getting separated, they have fallen out of love. Rosa protests that someone has to look after the house, the children, the family. She realizes that she depends completely on Damián both emotionally and financially. When they are leaving the café, she sees an advertisement for a cook and decides on the spur of the moment to apply for the job.

Ramón is in his bedroom with two identical boxes – the one that used to belong to Anselmo, which Roberto hid in the hut and Ramón has taken, and an identical box belonging to his grandmother, Carme. He opens the box belonging to Anselmo and discovers the love letter written by Carme in 1941 together with a heap of tiny pieces of paper, on which is written, “Forever, forever, forever.” Also, the key and the two pieces of paper that say, “Tell me you love me.” Obviously, a request and an answer. He can’t open his grandmother’s box because she keeps the key on a chain around her neck. He realizes his grandmother and his best friend’s grandfather had a secret love affair and wonders whether Carme ever went to Uruguay or was in Argentina – did Anselmo return from Argentina in order to be with her, did they get back together and does anybody else know about this? There is then a sudden explosion. The television set has been left on and has blown to pieces. Damián is so angry he gives Ramón a beating he won’t easily forget.

Rosa decides that enough is enough and she has to force all the fear out of herself in order to stand up to Damián. In a conversation with Roberto, Ramón determines to learn a trade as an apprentice, so he can get a job and take his mother and siblings with him, away from their father. He also confesses to Roberto that he was the one who took Anselmo’s box, there were two of them, but he doesn’t have them anymore. Ana is shocked to hear about what has happened to Ramón and uses some comics as an excuse to go and visit him. She has secretly been in love with him for as long as she can remember, but for him she is just his best friend’s younger sister. She has followed Ramón from afar, observing his flings with girls from the local school, but she has also noticed how he has secretly fallen in love with Nuria. She wishes he had the same feelings for her. They spend the afternoon together.

Ramón goes to visit the priest, Don César, who acted as a go-between for Anselmo’s letter to Carme. The priest informs him that his father, Damián, has been to see him, he is sorry for what he has done and Ramón has to find it in himself to forgive him for the beating. Ramón is enraged and doesn’t feel like forgiving him for anything. He then asks Don César about his grandmother Carme’s relationship with Anselmo. The priest is sorry he ever agreed to pass on Anselmo’s letter to Carme; he cannot share what Carme told him in confession. He says Damián also turned up one day in a rage, having discovered about his mother’s relationship with Anselmo, and after that he changed, his rage consumed him. He hopes the same thing will not happen to Ramón. As Ramón is leaving, he discovers Anselmo’s box in the priest’s living room, which Damián has left there for safekeeping. Spain is going through the transition between the end of Franco’s dictatorship and the nascent democracy, with a new constitution that allows political parties and demonstrations and has reinstalled the monarchy. Nuria’s father is a lawyer who was close to Franco’s regime, they are a traditional family that is used to being well off – unlike Roberto’s family, who are progressive, and unlike Ramón’s family, who have difficulties getting to the end of the month. Her mother is keen for Nuria to go out with Roberto because she knows of Anselmo’s business interests and thinks that Roberto’s parents will make a lot of money with the upcoming divorce law, which will lead to many people getting divorced. Nuria is flattered by Roberto’s attention, but has acquired a sudden and more pressing interest in Ramón. She knows Ramón won’t make a move on her because she is Roberto’s girlfriend, but she also knows he likes her, even though he has insisted that Nuria doesn’t visit him after the beating. She is not prepared to accept this, so she goes to pay him a visit while Roberto is away with his mother in Argentina. Ramón is stunned, but pleased to see her, and they go hand in hand to his secret hideaway, just the two of them, leaving all thought of Roberto behind.

A few days later, Damián comes home with a brand-new colour TV, which he has agreed to pay for in instalments. The others are delighted, but Ramón thinks this is just his father’s way of buying his forgiveness. Besides, a colour TV isn’t the thing he most wants in the world anymore. Now he has eyes only for Nuria. They have just made love in his secret hideaway, he knows he will have to tell Roberto when he gets back from Argentina, but his feelings for Nuria merit this. Rosa comes in to say she can’t find Carme anywhere, she has gone missing, so Ramón goes to find his father, who is devastated by the news. A search is organized by the Civil Guard. Everybody helps to scour the local area until Carme is found in a park in the centre of town. She has fallen over and died as a result of banging her head. Damián is distraught; while he seems to have lost all respect for the other members of his family, he has a tender and filial love for his mother. Ramón cannot believe the stark contrast between his experience with Nuria and his grandmother’s disappearance.

Arrangements are made for Carme’s funeral, and Sergeant Arribas of the Civil Guard agrees to come and bring her personal effects. Damián is vulnerable, distraught, and everybody can see this. Ramón is also upset, but he is helped by the memory of his experience with Nuria, until he receives a call from her. She wants to know how he is, but insists that he doesn’t tell Roberto anything about what has happened between them. Roberto is coming back from Argentina, and she is still his girlfriend. Ramón is unable to understand how her tone could have changed so quickly. Sergeant Arribas arrives and gives Damián a piece of paper that Carme was holding in her hand when she died, “Tell me you love me.” Damián remembers seeing his mother with a letter from Anselmo and how she told him the story of what had happened between them: how she had gone to Uruguay, been raped by the master of the house where she was working, how her aunt had then sent her to work for Anselmo in Buenos Aires, how the two of them had fallen in love, but Anselmo had been married, and so how Carme had decided to leave him behind and return to Galicia, where she had married Evaristo and had one son, Damián. All the rage Damián felt when he found out about his mother’s secret love affair with Anselmo he has directed towards his own family by being jealous of Rosa for fear that she also might deceive him, by treating his children harshly. When his own wife died, Anselmo returned from Argentina to be near Carme and, when her husband died, they decided that they could finally be together openly, without being ashamed of their love for one another, but then Carme was diagnosed with senile dementia and, not wanting to be a burden, refused to be with Anselmo. All they would do, for the rest of their lives, was interchange two pieces of paper: “Tell me you love me” and “Forever, forever, forever.”

Roberto returns from Argentina and explains to Ramón how they stayed in the apartment on Tango Street, where Anselmo had visited Carme during their love affair. He also notices that the condom has disappeared from their hideaway and makes a joke about this. Ramón leaves the wake for his grandmother in the company of Ana and then confesses to her all his love for Nuria. Ana is stoical, despite her own feelings for Ramón, and tells him he must wait before doing anything. But Ramón goes straight to see Nuria, who explains that she cannot be with him, Roberto is far too good a catch for her, he’s clever and has a future. Ramón cannot believe what he is hearing. On the day of the funeral, Damián rushes to Lola’s house to suggest that his mother should be buried alongside Anselmo, that they should give them in death what they couldn’t have in life, but Lola is insistent that Carme should be buried with her husband, that they spent their whole lives protecting their families and wouldn’t want to change that now. Carme is buried in the plot with her husband – and the box she kept all her life, which Damián has secretly placed in the coffin. At the funeral, Roberto and Nuria appear together for the first time in public; Ramón won’t tell Roberto about their secret. And when he says goodbye to them and Ana, for the first time he becomes aware of Ana standing in front of him, her frank and luminous smile.

This is a clever and intricate narrative in which love, both secret and declared, over a series of three generations is investigated and brought to light. Sometimes that love is genuine, others it is loyal or self-interested. The book is set at a time when Spain is changing and embracing new values, such as the legal possibility of a divorce or seeing the world in technicolour. And yet the values of remaining faithful and protecting those closest to you are in stark contrast to those of other people in the novel who inflict their anger on others or seek what is to their advantage. The novel presents in this way an array of characters and attitudes across the generations and serves very well to reflect a Spain in transition. It won the Sarmiento Prize awarded by Galician schoolchildren to their favourite book. A Spanish edition was published by Grijalbo (part of Penguin Random House), and a Polish translation is forthcoming.

Synopsis © Jonathan Dunne