Emilia Pardo Bazan, the most prolific and influential Spanish female writer of the nineteenth century, was a very controversial figure, vilified for her embracement of naturalism and her robust feminist stance. When Insolacion was published in 1889 it provoked a litany of negative comments and personal insults. This subtle, psychological novel, drawing on many aspects of its author's personal life, deals with the relationship between Asis, a respectable Galician widow, and Pacheco, a feckless womaniser from Andalucia. Although they scarcely know each other, Asis accepts Pacheco's invitation to visit the San Isidro Fair, where a heady cocktail of sun, alcohol and revelry causes her to behave in an uncharacteristic manner. Insolacion explores the conflict between Asis's self-recrimination and concern for the 'que diran' and her nascent sexuality. Finally, despite her determination to banish Pacheco from her mind and her intention to go back to Galicia, the couple sleep together and decide to marry. The perceived promiscuity of this work of fiction scandalised the reading public as well as many leading critics. Pereda considered Asis's behaviour reprehensible and Clarin dismissed the novel as a pseudo-erotic boutade. Nowadays, Insolacion is recognised as an important novel.

Emilia Pardo Bazan, the most prolific and influential Spanish female writer of the nineteenth century, was a very controversial figure, vilified for her embracement of naturalism and her robust feminist stance. When Insolacion was published in 1889 it provoked a litany of negative comments and personal insults. This subtle, psychological novel, drawing on many aspects of its author's personal life, deals with the relationship between Asis, a respectable Galician widow, and Pacheco, a feckless womaniser from Andalucia. Although they scarcely know each other, Asis accepts Pacheco's invitation to visit the San Isidro Fair, where a heady cocktail of sun, alcohol and revelry causes her to behave in an uncharacteristic manner. Insolacion explores the conflict between Asis's self-recrimination and concern for the 'que diran' and her nascent sexuality. Finally, despite her determination to banish Pacheco from her mind and her intention to go back to Galicia, the couple sleep together and decide to marry. The perceived promiscuity of this work of fiction scandalised the reading public as well as many leading critics. Pereda considered Asis's behaviour reprehensible and Clarin dismissed the novel as a pseudo-erotic boutade. Nowadays, Insolacion is recognised as an important novel.

Benito Perez Galdos (1843-1920) was a prolific Spanish realist novelist, who through a lack of good translations is virtually unknown outside Spain, though he has been compared as second only to Cervantes in Spanish literature and whose work is considered to give the deepest, truest, most comprehensive realities of Spain. Dona Perfecta (1876) was Galdos' first novel delving into the social world of middle-class Spain in the 19th century; a young liberal arrives in an imaginary cathedral city, with the intention of marrying his cousin. However the church interferes and obstructs the marriage, leading to a tragic clash between the traditional, provincial outlook and modern, liberal outlook of Madrid. Graham Whittaker's edition with Spanish text, English translation and substantial introduction aims to make this important novel widely available in English and the introduction and notes provide a comprehensive overview of the novel and Galdos' work. Spanish text with facing-page translation, commentary and notes.

Ramon Jose Sender Graces was born on 3rd February 1901. He was a prolific writer, who published a vast quantity of novels, stories, plays, essays, poetry and articles throughout his life. He wrote Requiem por un campesino espanol during one week in 1952, with the intention that it be part of a collection of short stories. That book never materialised, but Sender's novella was published by Aquelarre in Mexico in 1953 under the title Mosen Millan . The title was changed in 1960 by New York publisher Las Americas to something that could be meaningfully translated into English. The political message conveyed within the book meant that it was not published in Spain until 1974. Requiem for a Spanish Peasant relates the thoughts and memories of Mosen Millan, the parish priest, as he sits in the vestry of the church in a nameless Aragonese village, preparing to conduct a Reqiuem Mass to celebrate the life of a young peasant, Paco el del Molino, killed by the Nationalist army a year earlier, at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. As he waits, his thoughts are interrupted by the occasional comings and goings of an altar boy, who hums to himself an anonymous ballad. This ballad, along with Millan's thoughts and the voice of an omniscient narrator, creates three strands of narration for the reader to follow.

Benito Perez Galdos (1843-1920) was a prolific Spanish realist novelist, who through a lack of good translations is virtually unknown outside Spain, though he has been compared as second only to Cervantes in Spanish literature and whose work is considered to give the deepest, truest, most comprehensive realities of Spain. Dona Perfecta (1876) was Galdos' first novel delving into the social world of middle-class Spain in the 19th century; a young liberal arrives in an imaginary cathedral city, with the intention of marrying his cousin. However the church interferes and obstructs the marriage, leading to a tragic clash between the traditional, provincial outlook and modern, liberal outlook of Madrid. Graham Whittaker's edition with Spanish text, English translation and substantial introduction aims to make this important novel widely available in English and the introduction and notes provide a comprehensive overview of the novel and Galdos' work. Spanish text with facing-page translation, commentary and notes.