Marianela

Marianela by Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920). Translated by Gloria Bodtorf Clark

Widely considered the greatest novelist after Cervantes, Galdós is recognized as the leading literary figure in nineteenth-century Spain and the founder of Spanish narrative realism. After this early novel was warmly received by the public in 1878, Marianela was soon followed by successful reprints, revised editions, and translations. This is the first English translation since those nineteenth-century publications.

Marianela, set in Socartes, a fictional ore-mining village in northern Spain, tells the story of a young girl who is unable to hold a physically demanding job in the mining community because of her physical condition. She is hired by a wealthy landowner as a guide for his blind son, Pablo. In her friendship with Pablo, she finds the understanding and affection she has missed in her life. Pablo believes that Marianela must be the most beautiful woman in the world, given her inner beauty, kindness, and generosity with him and promises to marry her. But complications develop when an eye surgeon and Pablo's beautiful cousin come to town.

Marianela is a novel that illuminates many facets of nineteenth-century Spanish society. Galdós's complex characterizations within the deceptively simple rustic love triangle hold serious philosophical elements that can be read on many levels.