Die Tage ohne dich

A delicate young woman with long, tousled hair stepped into the studio. She seemed a bit shy but had a determined look. I estimated her to be in her mid-twenties. I silently observed her for a minute or a century, I can’t remember, until she suddenly took a bold step closer.

For the introverted Gael, who works as an art instructor in a studio, nothing remains unchanged when he meets Marta, a young woman who is to pose for his art students. However, falling in love with the unconventional Marta proves to be as difficult as the impossible love his fearless grandmother Dora tells him about, who fell in love with one of her students during the times of the Second Spanish Republic.

The Days Without You tells the lifelong bond between a grandmother and her grandson, while simultaneously narrating the love story of two people living in completely different worlds yet speaking a common language. In a touching manner, Elvira Sastre's novel describes the journey that everyone must eventually take to understand that life and love are so wonderful precisely because they come to an end. The Days Without You is a tribute to the power of words and enchants with a refreshingly unpretentious narrative voice.