Novels set in modern day Spain or Franco era

[SouthKoreaquestion]

Can anyone recommend a novel set either in modern day Spain or Spain under Franco? Looking for Christmas present for 17-year-old DD who is interested in Spanish culture and modern Spanish history.

Winter in Madrid by C J Sansom. Spanish civil War era.

Thank you! I'll have a look at that one.

The Shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
This is the first in a series and I think the best.

How about : The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón?

It's set in post civil war era with a fair amount of references to to the war.

(... and it features The Library of forgotten Books! A must read just because of that.)

@mateysmum- snap! You beat me!

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Hemingway. Spanish Civil War and an absolute classic (and one of my favourite novels).

The Labyrinth of the Spirits, it's part of the same series as The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Both brilliant. I also really liked For Whom the Bell Tolls & Winter in Madrid.

Was coming on to say the shadow of the wind but see I have been beaten to it!
There’s also a good Victoria hislop one set in spain during the Franco era called The Return

The Muse by Jessie Burton.
Set partly in 60s London but is also about researching a painting from the Spanish Civil War era .

The South by Colm Tóibín is set in 1950s Barcelona about an Irish woman who settles there.

Loved The Shadow of the Wind, it's very accessible so is probably a good one to start with and it's a trilogy. Apparently Carlos Ruiz Zafón started off writing YA novels.

It's at this point that I realise how little Spanish literature I know about, I've read a few South American writers but only The Shadow of the Wind by a contemporary Spanish writer, need to correct that!

I was also going to suggest The Muse. A book I read this year that was partly set in modern day Spain and had bits of spanish in it was ‘The other half of Augusta Hope’ by Joanna Glen.

In Diamond Square by Merce Rododera, set in Barcelona. Translated from Catalan. A masterpiece.

The Return by Victoria Hislop.

Set in both.

A belated thank you for all responses.

Guernica by David Boling

You used to be able to get some of the Manuel Vasquez Montalban Pepe Carvalho detective novels in translation. Set in Barcelona in the 70s and 80s. Worth a look.

The Seamstress by Maria Duenas (be careful there is another book with the same title by a different author). Wonderful story of a young woman surviving the civil war era and using her skills as a seamstress for espionage. It is sometimes called The Time Between or The Time Between Stitches. There is a Spanish TV version which I watched on Netflix.

I agree with Shadow of the Wind but after that RZ gets bonkers. (I do retain a soft spot for him though as was lovely, and slightly flirty with us all on a MN webchat yonks ago)
Cry Mother Spain is a good one, as are most of the Civil War books. If you can get it in translation Requiem por un campesino español is wonderful. Bleak but wonderful.

The Victoria Hislop one I hated. I quite liked her Greek one but she seems to be working her way through modern historical events in the way Dan Brown does symbols. Very formulaic.

If you want non-fiction then the New Spaniards has been rewritten and updated.

Clara Sanchez, The Scent of Lemon Leaves
Ana Maria Matute, The Island

@hippospot

In Diamond Square by Merce Rododera, set in Barcelona. Translated from Catalan. A masterpiece.

This book is pure gold. Such beautiful writing. We speak Catalan where I come from in Spain, this is the main compulsory book for the Catalan A-level equivalent exam. The subject is compulsory up to the age of 18, and everyone has to read it. It's like Shakespeare in Britain.

I'll add that to my wishlist Eileen!