Last Evenings with Teresa - by Juan Marsé (Paperback)

About the Book

Set in post-war Barcelona, Last Evenings with Teresa is a timeless story of desire and ambition by the winner of the Premio Cervantes. Winner of Spain's Premio Biblioteca Breve.

Book Synopsis

'Spain's finest contemporary novelist' Guardian

'Juan Marsé's contribution to European fiction has been consistently remarkable' Times Literary Supplement

From one of Spain's most acclaimed authors, comes an extraordinary novel about ambition and longing set against the backdrop of post-war Barcelona.

Teresa is everything he wants. She is beautiful, charming, rebellious, and born with every advantage in life. He has only ever existed on the margins. A poor immigrant from Murcia, earning his living stealing and selling motorbikes, he could only ever dream of being with the daughter of the Catalan bourgeoisie.

When their desires take hold, they must face the realities of a world designed to keep them apart.

With Last Evenings with Teresa, Marsé has created a portrait of two unforgettable literary heroes whose love affair captures all the tensions, passions and contradictions of a generation living in the shadow of a civil war but who, despite the odds, continue to dream.

'Last Evenings with Teresa ... has everything one can ask of a novel; it seems to have been written in a state of grace' Javier Cercas

'Between illusions and realities, with his own free creative will - the opposite of the recipe for a social novel - Juan Marsé offered a memorable panorama of 1950s Barcelona and its wild heroism' Lluís Izquierdo

'I consider Juan Marsé the best storyteller Spanish literature has given us in many decades' Ignacio Echevarría

'He has never written a single page where something interesting isn't happening' Eduardo Mendoza

'One of Spain's most acclaimed writers' New York Times

Review Quotes

Last Evenings with Teresa has everything one can ask of a novel; it seems to have been written in a state of grace-- "Javier Cercas"

Between illusions and realities, with his own free creative will - the opposite of the recipe for a social novel - Juan Marsé offered a memorable panorama of 1950s Barcelona and its wild heroism-- "Lluís Izquierdo"

He has never written a single page where something interesting isn't happening-- "Eduardo Mendoza"

I consider Juan Marsé the best storyteller Spanish literature has given us in many decades-- "Ignacio Echevarría"

Juan Marsé's contribution to European fiction has been consistently remarkable-- "TLS"

One of Spain's most acclaimed writers-- "New York Times"

Spain's finest contemporary novelist-- "Guardian"

About the Author

Juan Marsé is one of Spain's most celebrated writers. Last Evenings with Teresa (1966), now in English translation for the first time, is considered his masterpiece. In 2009 he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's most important literary honour. He died in 2020.