Again a blend of people and politics, Norman Lewis' present story is set in Torre del Mar, a fishing village near Barcelona to which more than casual tourists come. For in the village, where life is hard, the nets close over more than fish. Costa, brutally shunned by the villagers because he was decorated by the Fascists over an ironically misconstrued manoeuver, battles the giant merou to pay off his sweetheart's city-bred debt. The greatest cruelty comes when he staggers to market and finds no buyer because the villagers believe he has betrayed the rebel Molina, a man who finds he no longer believes completely in his mission and who is boarding at Costa's house. In reality it is Paquita, the sens gypsy girl, who has stolen his wireless to obtain food, and who spits out the truth with her vomit as the hating young Lieutenant Calles, fanatical and ascetic, has her tortured. Costa, maddened by illness and agony, goes to Barcelona and finds Elena a reluctant prostitute -- he dumps her client out the window. The village eccentric, who loves nonconformists, helps Molina attempt escape; the pleasant but politically expedient police Colonel points out a regional law that will save Costa from the gallows and the ""day of the fox"" is over. Strong characterization and suspenseful narrative played against a hard wash of locale form an effective unity (more successful in this respect than A Single Pilgrim) and provide a compelling , adult story.
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