Nada

A modern Spanish classic, first published sixty years ago and translated into eighteen languages, now available in English with a preface by Mario Vargas Llosa. The novel conveys beautifully the spirit of war-torn, brutalized Barcelona.

The New York Times - Fernanda Eberstadt

Laforet died in 2004, having published five more novels and a book of short stories. The seedy, lugubrious Barcelona she evoked in Nada is now vanished, given way to a chic metropolis famed for its avant-garde chefs and bijou bars. But the spirit of sly resistance that Laforet s novel expresses, its heroine s determination to escape provincial poverty and to immerse herself in lights, noises, the entire tide of life, has lost none of its power of persuasion.

Carmen Laforet (1921-2004) had a profound impact on Spanish literature. Her debut novel, Nada, was awarded the first Premio Nadal in 1944. She is also wrote a collection of short stories and five other novels, including Al doblar la esquina (Around the Block) and La mujer nueva (The New Woman), which won Spain’s National Prize for Literature in 1955.

Edith Grossman is the distinguished translator of works by many other Spanish and Latin American writers, including Miguel de Cervantes, Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Álvaro Mutis. She is the recipient of two Translation of the Year awards from the American Literary Translators Association, and the 2006 PEN Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation. She lives in New York City.

Mario Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America’s preeminent fiction writers and essayists. His novels include The Feast of the Goat, The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto, and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter.