When Esmeralda Ruiz returns home from London in search of land to farm and a safe haven, she doesn’t realize the moral peril of living with Rex Trevail, a reclusive and erudite man. She also doesn’t know about the hidden animosity between Rex and the village mayor, Javier Crespo, whose source is shrouded in mystery. As she delves into an old crime involving the disappearance of a mysterious and talented woman, she finds herself drawn to both men: Rex, who enlightens her mind but obsesses over his past and the injustice of life, and Javier, who charms her with his geniality but conceals his own dark secret.
Julia Seivad was born in Cumbria in 1953, and has settled in Cantabria, northern Spain. She has lived in India, England, Wales, Guatemala and Slovakia, and travelled extensively in Europe and the Americas. She has worked as an export executive and teacher of English as a Foreign Language. She enjoys playing classical music with friends, sea swimming and gardening. Use of the Fruit is her first novel.
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2 reviews
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I enjoyed the novel very much, full of intrigue and a curious vision of Cantabrian life. Poetic and addictive.
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'Use of the fruit' by Julia Seivad, published Austin Macauley, 2024.
The pages keep turning of this unusual first novel.
Characters Esme, Rex, Crespo and Lisa are well drawn, leading the reader forward in the mystery of the disappeared Pilar. We spend hours in Esme's fruit and vegetable plot overlooking the Cantabrian Sea in northern Spain just off the Santiago Way, but also travel to Guatemala, Madrid and New Zealand. Despite a few uncertain touches, an absorbing read.
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