DON’T MISS THE FIESTA — CHILLING DRAMA IN SPAIN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) September 4, 2009 -- Peaceful, picturesque…the little village lost in the mountains of Spain is an escapist’s dream. But dark currents lurk below the community’s placid surface.
British writer David Baird’s latest book — Don’t Miss The Fiesta! — takes readers on a chilling roller-coaster ride.
Fleeing from his scandalous past, an expatriate falls for a beautiful young village girl only to encounter an explosive mixture of deep passions and old hatreds.

Shropshire-born Baird knows southern Spain first-hand and has written several non-fiction books about the region. His poignant account of the impact of the anti-Franco guerrilla movement in his book Between Two Fires won critical acclaim, including praise from Lorca biographer Ian Gibson and noted historian Paul Preston.
In his first work of fiction, he draws on true-life incidents. But he insists: “The characters in Don’t Miss The Fiesta! are all figments of the imagination and the village of Benamargo does not exist.”
He points out that many expatriates have no idea what situation they may be stumbling into when they start a new life in a community ot total strangers.

“The idea originated,” he says, “with the experience of some friends. They bought a remote Andalusian farmhouse and sat back to enjoy the simple life. But then strange things started happening and they found they had become embroiled in all sorts of family feuds.
“I think many people have stars in their eyes when they seek rural tranquillity. Every place has its history and memories are long — and here in Spain recent history was very violent.”
A tyrannical, thundering priest is one of the main characters and Baird admits that he is modelled on a clergyman he met years ago in Granada.
“He was an amazing character who ruled his parishioners with a rod of iron. He could have stepped straight out of the 16th century.”

In Don’t Miss The Fiesta! , events reach a dramatic climax as Easter approaches, a time of sinister significance in a village “where nothing ever happens”.

*** Don’t Miss the Fiesta! is on sale at English-language bookshops in Spain or via the Internet.
It is published by Maroma Press, which also published Between Two Fires.
More information at http://maromapress.wordpress.com/
Books can be ordered at maroma.press@gmail.com

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