Welcome to Barcelona at the beginning of the 20th century — the flourishing of modernism, the clash of ideologies, the conflict of generations, debates are raging, blood is boiling. A young artist, Dalma Sala, in love with life, with painting, with a woman, is torn between true art, which requires complete dedication, and unnecessary but convenient crafts for the wealthy and indifferent, between pleasure and duty, between romance and comfort. Dalma seeks himself and his true path — and together with his beloved will walk the terrifying trails amidst the ecstasy and horror of a world on the brink of a new century. Ildefonso Falcones, a lawyer by profession, a historian by vocation, one of the greatest contemporary Spanish writers, was awarded numerous prestigious prizes for his first novel "Cathedral by the Sea," including Euskadi de Plata (2006, Spain), Qué Leer (2007, Spain), and the Giovanni Boccaccio Prize (2007, Italy). Falcones' books have already sold over 10 million copies in several dozen countries. "The Painter of Souls" is his hymn to his native Barcelona, a magnificent saga of people in the flow of historical events and a chronicle of human passions: love, revenge, loyalty to art and ideals in tumultuous times when everything changes, from politics to morality and aesthetics, history unfolds like a giant canvas, passions create a great city, and the city shapes human destinies for centuries to come.
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