Winter in Madrid — C.J. Sansom

Harry felt panic beginning to stir. The thought of going back to Spain both excited and appalled him ..

1940: after the Spanish Civil War, Madrid lies ruined, its people starving, as Germany continues its relentless march through Europe. Britain now stands alone, while General Franco considers whether to abandon neutrality and enter the war.

Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett, a traumatized veteran of Dunkirk turned reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of old schoolfriend Sandy Forsyth, now a shady Madrid businessman, Harry finds himself involved in a dangerous game -- and surrounded by memories.

Meanwhile Sandy's girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged on her own secret mission -- to find her former lover, Bernie Piper, a passionate Communist in the International Brigades who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama.

A vivid and haunting depiction of wartime Spain, Winter in Madrid is an intimate and compelling tale. An intensely moving love story, it also evokes a remarkable sense of history unfolding and reveals the profound impact of impossible choices.