Heart of Tango

In this latest offering from Elia Barceló, narratives across time deftly weave together a story of love, heartache, longing and the temptation of the tango.

Following the death of her mother, 17-year-old Natalia and her father are forced to move from Valencia across the Atlantic in search of a new life in Buenos Aires. Two years later Natalia becomes engaged to El Rojo, a burly German sailor 15 years her senior, and it seems as if a whole new chapter of her life is about to begin. Yet two days before her wedding, her path crosses with young dancer Diego and suddenly her whole life turns upside down.

All too aware of social pressures and afraid of disappointing her father, Natalia convinces herself that marrying El Rojo is the right thing to do. She instantly regrets her decision. The painful irony of the situation is accentuated when her husband unwittingly asks Diego to dance with her at the wedding. After dancing an impassioned tango, Diego disappears into the night. Although the lovers are reunited in a tango hall some months later, their actions are met with grave consequences.

Interspersed throughout Natalia and Diego's tragic story, a secondary narrative develops, recounting another tale of thwarted passion and the irresistible power of tango. This enables the reader to question all of the characters' identities and their links to one another. Perhaps most impressive is Barceló's ability to draw out the evocative spirit and palpable sensuality of the tango, such that it becomes the true protagonist of the novel and the feature which dictates all of the characters' fates.

By blending the historical with the fantastical, Barceló conjures up a vivid picture of Buenos Aires which lives and breathes both the musicality and the passion of the tango.  Barceló once described herself as 'the type of novelist who loves to narrate, to tell stories with many adventures, emotions, conflicts, difficulties, mysteries and secrets'. It is clear that she achieves all of this and more in Heart of Tango.