Loaves and fishes

"Loaves and Fishes" by Bernard Capes is a historical fiction novel set during the Peninsular War in Spain, primarily focusing on the chaotic French siege of Saragossa. The story centers on Eugène Ducos, a clever and adventurous captain tasked with finding salt for the struggling French army—an assignment that throws him into a world of love, treachery, and complicated relationships amid violent conflict. The novel paints a vivid historical picture of February 1809, revealing both the French army’s desperate shortages and Ducos’s sharp resourcefulness as he undertakes his mission. Simultaneously, we see the personal life of Anita, a goatherd yearning for her lost love, Eugenio, weaving her fate into the broad canvas of war, bringing encounters that include facing off against vengeful women and navigating the harsh realities of wartime survival, creating a story rich with human emotion tested by hardship.