In Memoirs of a Spanish Turtle, the author tells the true story of a real Spanish family that lived through the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39 and a succession of hardships and sometimes funny events in Spain during the last century. Named Tortuga in Spanish, or Turtle in English, the lucky reptile is able to understand what occurs in the family. The story introduces life lessons for children. Tortuga cares for others and their feelings. He has a sense of humor, he makes “human” mistakes, and he is loyal. His good character carries him through adversity.
Tortuga’s ability to understand humans is, of course, fictional, but the human characters and the historical events are true. The author’s father found the turtle, whose photograph appears on the cover, in the woods one day when he was a boy of seven and brought it home. It is still alive today, well over one hundred years old, living in the same house. Some of the human characters who inspired the story have died, but Tortuga lives on in Spain with the author’s ninety-four-year-old mother.
