The Spanish Civil War is the setting for this strange and poetic love story; Dr Daniel Da Barca, a Republican, is imprisoned by Franco's troops and separated from his lover, Marisa Mollo. Rivas creates a feeling of optimism in the darkest of places by the humour and humanity of his characters; even the prison guard, Herbal, guilty of torture and murder, is given a conscience in the form of the painter he killed - a tiny ghost who sits astride the carpenter's pencil above his ear.
