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This telenovela is available with English subtitles on Hulu.
Based on the novel of the same title by Maria Duenas (also available in English, though I haven't read it yet), The Time In Between takes place from 1935-1941 and tells the story of Sira Quiroga, a young seamstress from Madrid who becomes stranded in Morocco, becomes a successful dressmaker in Tetouan, and is eventually recruited by the British Secret Service to get information from the wives of Nazi officers. LikeGran Hotel, the series is reformatted to make 11 longer episodes fit into 17 45 minute episodes, though, as far as I know, no scenes were cut, and most of the original episode endings and beginning are less jarring than Gran Hotel's, though they're still noticeable.
The series begins when Sira, who is illegitimate (this is eventually a fairly significant plotpoint), is a sewer at a modest dressmaker's shop and meets and becomes engaged to a lowranking government official. As happens in these stories, she gets wooed away from her very safe fiancee by a hotter and more daring love interest. Who promptly convinces her to run away with him, spends all her money, and leaves her stranded with his debts in another country. This, thankfully, is never treated as "women should no better and appreciate Nice Guys more," but rather as a woman who was taken advantage of by a creepazoid loser. This also gets Sira out of Spain right before the Spanish Civil War, but also leaves her mother trapped in Madrid with no (legal) way out. It's a slow beginning, followed by another brief slow period where Sira has to try to piece a life together from scratch.
It takes off when Sira, with her landlady's help, opens her own dress shop in Tetouan, and soon becomes popular with the wives and lovers of British and German officials. The most notable of these is Rosalinda Fox, the lover of a Nazi official, who Sira quickly becomes close friends with, and through whom Sira gets drawn into pre-war politics, and is eventually brought to the attention of the British Secret Service. The series focuses on parts of the pre-and-early-WWII years that don't get a lot of attention, specifically the British, Spanish and German communities in Morocco, and the Spanish community separated from their families, and the British and German communities in Spain just before and at the beginning of the war, and how they interacted with the local Spanish community.
There are a number of men in Sira's life-both romantic and platonic, but there's more focus on Sira's relationships with other women. Sira begins as an Accidental Heroine, but becomes increasingly deliberate in her heroism throughout, but the progress of both is propelled by her relationships with other women. in particular, her usefulness as a spy doesn't rely on her attractiveness or men being sexually attracted to her, but on the fact that she gets along with other women, who like and trust her. In addition, the series places great importance on mother figures for her. Her own mother, of course, but also her land lady as well as her former employer in Madrid. The presence of her mother figures, and her ability to forge relationships with other women, is central through most of the series. It does become more focused on her relationships with men towards the end, but not to the point where it ignores her relationships with other women, or to the point where I thought it overcame the importance of those relationships.
There's a romantic plotline, but it's secondary to Sira's growth as a person and her profession, both as a dressmaker and as a spy, and it actually serves to build on that. In the not-overly-active tumblr tag (the only limited fandom that I've found) I've seen a couple of posts lamenting the fact that the ending wasn't explicitly romantic, but I prefer it that way. to me, the ending makes it clear that this has been entirely Sira's story on her own terms, and that other players were a part, but that Sira and her POV were the most important thing.
So: Interesting story about a part of history and subcultures that we don't see get covered a lot, lady-centric, fashion, historical figures we don't hear a lot about (seriously, guys, go read up on Rosalinda Fox and Juan Luis Beigbeder), ladyspies, and relationships between women. Go watch it so I'm not alone anymore
Based on the novel of the same title by Maria Duenas (also available in English, though I haven't read it yet), The Time In Between takes place from 1935-1941 and tells the story of Sira Quiroga, a young seamstress from Madrid who becomes stranded in Morocco, becomes a successful dressmaker in Tetouan, and is eventually recruited by the British Secret Service to get information from the wives of Nazi officers. Like
The series begins when Sira, who is illegitimate (this is eventually a fairly significant plotpoint), is a sewer at a modest dressmaker's shop and meets and becomes engaged to a lowranking government official. As happens in these stories, she gets wooed away from her very safe fiancee by a hotter and more daring love interest. Who promptly convinces her to run away with him, spends all her money, and leaves her stranded with his debts in another country. This, thankfully, is never treated as "women should no better and appreciate Nice Guys more," but rather as a woman who was taken advantage of by a creepazoid loser. This also gets Sira out of Spain right before the Spanish Civil War, but also leaves her mother trapped in Madrid with no (legal) way out. It's a slow beginning, followed by another brief slow period where Sira has to try to piece a life together from scratch.
It takes off when Sira, with her landlady's help, opens her own dress shop in Tetouan, and soon becomes popular with the wives and lovers of British and German officials. The most notable of these is Rosalinda Fox, the lover of a Nazi official, who Sira quickly becomes close friends with, and through whom Sira gets drawn into pre-war politics, and is eventually brought to the attention of the British Secret Service. The series focuses on parts of the pre-and-early-WWII years that don't get a lot of attention, specifically the British, Spanish and German communities in Morocco, and the Spanish community separated from their families, and the British and German communities in Spain just before and at the beginning of the war, and how they interacted with the local Spanish community.
There are a number of men in Sira's life-both romantic and platonic, but there's more focus on Sira's relationships with other women. Sira begins as an Accidental Heroine, but becomes increasingly deliberate in her heroism throughout, but the progress of both is propelled by her relationships with other women. in particular, her usefulness as a spy doesn't rely on her attractiveness or men being sexually attracted to her, but on the fact that she gets along with other women, who like and trust her. In addition, the series places great importance on mother figures for her. Her own mother, of course, but also her land lady as well as her former employer in Madrid. The presence of her mother figures, and her ability to forge relationships with other women, is central through most of the series. It does become more focused on her relationships with men towards the end, but not to the point where it ignores her relationships with other women, or to the point where I thought it overcame the importance of those relationships.
There's a romantic plotline, but it's secondary to Sira's growth as a person and her profession, both as a dressmaker and as a spy, and it actually serves to build on that. In the not-overly-active tumblr tag (the only limited fandom that I've found) I've seen a couple of posts lamenting the fact that the ending wasn't explicitly romantic, but I prefer it that way. to me, the ending makes it clear that this has been entirely Sira's story on her own terms, and that other players were a part, but that Sira and her POV were the most important thing.
So: Interesting story about a part of history and subcultures that we don't see get covered a lot, lady-centric, fashion, historical figures we don't hear a lot about (seriously, guys, go read up on Rosalinda Fox and Juan Luis Beigbeder), ladyspies, and relationships between women. Go watch it so I'm not alone anymore
