MORROCO: LOVE IN TIMES OF WAR
It is the early 1920’s and Spain is at war with local tribes in a Northern African area known as the Rif. The Spanish Queen wants to boost morale and to create positive public relations for the Spanish monarch and government. So she give her good friend, the Duchess, a task. She must establish a Red Cross hospital in the Spanish occupied city of Melilla.
Several newly trained nurses, daughters of privilege, join the Duchess in travelling to Morocco to begin this endeavor. Among them are Pilar, a young widow and the Duchess’ right hand. Magdalena is a somewhat flighty but effervescent young woman who leaves her fiancé behind in Spain. Then there is Julia. Julia has not yet had time to complete nurse’s training. But she is determined to use her job as a way to search for her missing brother and fiancé who are soldiers.
Upon their arrival, the Duchess faces some opposition from the army’s director of health and sanitation, Victor Ruiz-Marquez. He does not wish to give control over hospital decisions to the Duchess. But she is able to arrange for several army doctors to be attached to her new hospital, including Dr. Fidel Calderon, Dr.Luis Garcés and Dr. Guillermo. Together, along with field nurse Verónica and ambulance driver Larbi Al Hamza, these men and women accomplish the impossible in difficult circumstances. They also see their professional and personal lives intertwine while war takes its’ toll.
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