Romance novel set in Mojácar, and we talk to Isabelle about setting

1st June 2017

Then. Now. Always. by Isabelle Broom, romance novel set in Mojácar.

People often talk about a setting being a character in its own right (not only us at TripFiction I might add!). In this book the author has created a fabulous backdrop using Mojácar (pronounced “Mohaca”) in the Province of Almeria, Spain. I had heard of this small and beautiful hilltop town, perched above the azure waters of the Mediterranean but knew little about it. It is picture perfect with its “quiet sense of history“, its white buildings and Moorish heart. And having read “Then.Now.Always.” I have a real desire to visit and to walk in the footsteps of the characters, but then that is what literary wanderlust is all about! The author has absolutely brought the town to life within a good story.

Twenty-eight year old Hannah is on her first location shoot  for “Vivid” run by Theo (a Greek Adonis it seems). They are in Mojacár  to capture the essence of the place. Hannah has always had a place in her heart for the beautiful town since she visited in her teens.

She has also always harboured feelings for Theo, but because she is so much younger, and a mere minion on his payroll, she has kept her yearnings largely to herself. Tom, her great friend since Uni days has come along as cameraman too and he acts like a kind of foil to her passionate self.

Hannah’s stepsister Nancy arrives unexpectedly and upsets the relatively harmonious time the crew has established. There are family issues to be understood and resolved but is now really the time?

There is a lot of girlie angsting about what to wear and about what the real intentions of the male characters might be. Insecurity and desire are a heady combination! But the magic of Mojácar soon rubs off, all overseen by the ancient Indalo man, a kind of good luck motif that was first discovered in La Cueva de los Letreros, which Hannah and Tom visit. Hannah even has a tattoo on her wrist of the Indalo man, which has kept her connected to the town since she first visited.

Elaine, a local who knew she wanted to live here as soon as she arrived some 30 odd years ago, shares with Hannah how to catch the rainbows as the water pours from 13 spouts of La Fuente (fountain) and shares a very difficult backstory which gives an edge to their filming.

It is a very smooth and enjoyable read, great for poolside reading. If there are any grammar police intending to read the book, they will probably find themselves grimacing a little at certain turns of phrase: “the subject of Tom and I” (it should be ‘me‘ not “I”), or “the opposite of Rachel and I” (again, use of ‘of’ requires “me”), in other words a nominative is used where there should be a genitive or dative, but, hey, fashions are changing…

A delightfully told story, with a beautiful setting that will make you want to visit! It will! You will, however, have to buy the book to see whether Hannah gets her man! I will leave you with this snippet from the novel and you will be out booking a trip to Mojácar before you have even finished reading it, trust me: “As if Mojácar wasn’t magical enough, with its fairy-tale village and mythical history, when the sun goes down you also get  this added layer of spellbinding  beauty – a tapestry  of twinkling wonderment. It’s enough to bring a person to their knees in awe”.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

Over to Isabelle for a #TalkingLocationWith… feature

I was only 15 the first time I went to Mojácar – a little town on the south-east coast of Spain. I’m not going to tell you which year it was, but trust me when I say that it was a very long time ago. A very, very long time! It was the first holiday abroad that I’d ever been on without my mum and stepdad – similarly to Hannah in Then. Now. Always., I was invited along with my best friend and her parents. They knew the area well and had been visiting for years already, but I was coming to it with fresh eyes – and it was so unlike anywhere I had ever been before.

Mojácar is unique in that the view looking up at the village from the beach is actually better than the one from the Plaza Nueva looking across and down to the sea. Well, I think so, anyway. The mismatched handful of white dwellings thrown against the hillside seem to have been placed there in such a haphazard way, but there’s also a unity to them which is infinitely pleasing to behold. As you stroll up the hill towards the Pueblo in the early evening, you are enticed by thousands of twinkling lights, not to mention the delicious smells that are wafting out from Mojácar’s many tavernas. Scents of slow-cooked paella, roasting tomatoes and rich, earthy wine. It’s a true feast for the senses, and the ever-present breeze chases dust around your ankles as you wander through the labyrinthine cobbled streets, ducking into boutiques and gift shops, before stopping to share a jug of sangria in the shade of a sprawling bougainvillea.

As well as being aesthetically pleasing, Mojácar is also a very magical place. The legend of the Indalo Man is taken seriously enough by the local inhabitants to warrant little statues and models of the emblems outside pretty much every home or business. If you look up as you explore, you’ll see the stick figure cut into the brickwork of the walls, or daubed in paint against the clean, whitewashed buildings. He brings good luck and prosperity, but he’s also there to protect Mojácar from drought, earthquakes and war. You simply cannot leave without buying an Indalo Man as a gift – but remember, you must not buy your own one, or the charm won’t work.

While Mojácar Pueblo offers history, mysticism and beauty at every turn, the Playa has everything you’d expect from a lovely Spanish beach – and it’s all there in huge abundance. There’s a whopping 17km of wide, sandy, loveliness to scrunch your bare toes in, and the seafront is lined with an eclectic range of bars and restaurants, all of which offer “hamacas” for hire. My favourite of all of these is a place called El Patio, which I’ve been going to since I was a teenager. The staff are friendly, the food delicious, and they have live music every week, too. Save some crumbs from your complimentary lunchtime bread basket to feed some of the many little birds that you’ll find hopping around between the tables, and treat yourself to an ice-cold cerveza as you watch the sun go down.

With every single one of my books, I always try to pick a location that means something to me, and Mojácar has been right at the top of that list ever since I first visited all those years ago. It’s quite unlike anywhere I have been before or since, and I just knew it would make the perfect location for a story with plenty of love, laughs and dramas. And yes, some of what Hannah admits to getting up to in the story are antics that I may have indulged in myself… but there are others that I wasn’t cruel enough to subject her to! Suffice to say, I did a fair amount of growing up during my early holidays in Mojácar, and now it’s the place that I go to in order to reflect, relax and unwind. It’s a true gem, a very special place – and I would encourage everyone to fly over and have their own Spanish adventure amongst the cobbles, sunshine and dusty wind.

Thank you so much to Isabelle for sharing “her” Mojacar. You can follow her on Twitter,and  Facebook and of course buy her books here!

Photos © Isabelle Broom

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