Emilia Pardo Bazán - (Paperback)

About the Book

A collection of twenty-seven short stories by Spanish writer, intellectual, and feminist Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921), in English translation, showcase the realism and naturalism characteristic of her work.

Book Synopsis

Spanish writer, intellectual, and feminist Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921) was a master of the short form and practitioner of the style that became known as naturalism. This collection of twenty-seven translated stories, marked by their brevity, reveal the narrative complexity, keen psychological insight, and careful attention to realistic detail that was characteristic of her work. Some fictionalize actual occurrences ("The Pardon," "A Galician Mother," and "The Lady Bandit"); others are a defense of subjugated women ("The Guilty Woman" and "The Faithful Fiancée").

One highly symbolic story, "The White Horse," qualifies Pardo Bazán as the godmother of the Generation of '98, the group of writers who exhorted Spain to rid itself of inertia, apathy, and fixation on past glories. Still others resemble contemporary suspense thrillers ("The Cuff Link" and "The White Hair"). Influenced by the work of Guy de Maupassant and Émile Zola, Pardo Bazán's themes are fear, love, hatred, forgiveness, cruelty, poverty, repentance, homesickness, and madness--that is, naked reality.

Review Quotes

"'The White Horse' and Other Stories is an engrossing collection of the short fiction of Emilia Pardo Bazán. These stories draw you in with their vivid characters, unexpected turns, and unflinching portrayals of human complexity and social injustice. Robert M. Fedorchek provides highly readable translations that preserve the depth and nuance of the original Spanish. This volume is an engaging and accessible introduction to this major European author."

--Jennifer Smith "author of Women, Mysticism, and Hysteria in Fin-de-Siècle Spain"

"A bold heir to Goya, Pardo Bazán exposes cruelty and injustice while celebrating popular custom in these fierce, often tender stories. Blending feminist critique with imaginative portrayals of Gospel figures, this selection spans the career of one of Spain's bravest and most uncompromising literary voices."--Denise DuPont "author of Whole Faith: The Catholic Ideal of Emilia Pardo Bazán"

"This landmark collection, impeccably curated and sensitively translated, introduces Pardo Bazán and her fiction to a wider audience and makes the Spanish fin-de-siécle come alive. This new edition is a treasure for both specialists and general readers."--Joyce Tolliver "author of Cigar Smoke and Violet Water: Gendered Discourse in the Stories of Emilia Pardo Bazán"

"This selection contains some of Emilia Pardo Bazán's finest short stories. Spain's foremost nineteenth-century woman writer was a feminist, but also a Catholic and political conservative who was ambivalent about questions of social class. These tensions transpire in her skillfully written and often humorous stories that provide us with astute insights into the lives of the men and women in the Spain of her lifetime."--Margot Versteeg "coeditor of Approaches to Teaching the Writings of Emilia Pardo Bazán"

About the Author

EMILIA PARDO BAZÁN (1851-1921) was a Galician author and scholar best known for her novels, including The House of Ulloa, and her journalism and criticism.

ROBERT M. FEDORCHEK was a professor of modern languages and literatures at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. He is the translator of ten other books from Bucknell University Press.