Saragossa
Translated by Minna Caroline Smith
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This book offers a gripping and humanizing portrayal of one of history's most legendary sieges, blending epic patriotism with intimate personal drama.
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Book Summary
During the second siege of Saragossa, young Gabriel de Araceli joins the city's heroic defense against Napoleon's forces. Amidst relentless bombardment, starvation, and disease, he witnesses both the extraordinary valor of the Saragossans and the tragic love between his friend Augustine and the outcast Mariquilla, whose father's treachery and social prejudice lead to devastating consequences.
The novel follows Gabriel de Araceli, a Spanish soldier who escapes captivity and arrives in Saragossa just before the second French siege. He enlists with the help of Don José de Montoria, a wealthy patriot, and becomes close friends with Montoria's son Augustine. Augustine confides his love for Mariquilla Candiola, the daughter of a despised miser, and asks Gabriel to deliver messages to her. As the siege intensifies, the city endures horrific bombardment, mining, and famine. Augustine and Mariquilla's relationship deepens, but her father's suspicious dealings with the French and his own greed create tension. The Montoria family suffers tragedy when another son is killed, and Don José, though grieving, insists on duty. In the final days, the city falls, and Augustine is devastated to find Mariquilla dead; he buries her himself, defying his father's disapproval. Gabriel survives, haunted by the horrors he witnessed. The novel weaves personal sacrifice and love into the larger tapestry of national resistance, highlighting the dehumanizing effects of war and the enduring spirit of the Saragossan people.
Reading guide
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Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
Augustine Montoria
Augustine is the son of Don José de Montoria, a leading citizen of Saragossa, and is destined by his parents for a bishop's mitre. His secret love for Mariquilla Candiola, daughter of his father's bitter enemy, splits him between filial duty and desire, and the siege's daily carnage only sharpens the torment. His anguish drives him toward the walls and the fighting, making his private crisis inseparable from the city's fate.
Mariquilla Candiola
Mariquilla lives under the jealous guard of her father, Don Jerónimo, who treats her as another piece of hoarded property. She loves Augustine Montoria in secret, meeting him by night in the garden while her father prowls with a lantern, and she endures public humiliation when a mob turns on Candiola. Her courage and constancy pull Augustine away from his family's plans and toward the city's danger.
Don José de Montoria
Don José de Montoria is one of the influential men whose courage and contempt for the French rouse the spirits of everyone who sees them. He is a man of rough practical remedies — rubbing, spirits, no broth — and of unbending expectations for his son Augustine, whom he chides for coming through battle unmarked. His pride and his ancient grudge against Candiola set the terms of the lovers' impossible position.
Candiola
Candiola is a bent, greenish-eyed old man whose very face inspires antipathy, a usurer who keeps his daughter as closely as his cash and nurses an old resentment against Don José de Montoria for freeing his debtors. He prowls his house and garden by night with a lantern, suspicious of everything and everyone. His greed and spite turn Mariquilla's love affair into a crime, and his dealings shadow the city's siege with private malice.
Don Roque
A minor nobleman and friend of the Montoria family, appears in social scenes.
Juan Pirli
A colorful, boastful character who provides comic relief and local color.
Heroic Resistance and Patriotism
The book celebrates the extraordinary valor and stubborn resistance of the Saragossan people against the French siege, portraying their defense as a supreme act of national honor and sacrifice.
Love and Sacrifice
The romantic relationship between Augustine and Mariquilla unfolds against the backdrop of war, highlighting how personal love persists and is tested amidst collective suffering and social prejudice.
Social Class and Prejudice
The narrative exposes deep social divisions, particularly through the character of Candiola, the miserly and despised 'Mallorcan Jew,' whose wealth and lack of patriotism isolate him and his daughter from the community.
War and Dehumanization
The relentless bombardment, starvation, and epidemic reduce the city to a hellish landscape, where individuals become anonymous, bodies pile up, and the living struggle to retain their humanity.