The Island (Paperback)

Ana Maria Matute

ISBN 10: 0241374286 / ISBN 13: 9780241374283

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2020

About this Item

Paperback. A searing coming-of-age tale by one of the greatest Spanish writers of the 20th century, set on the island of Mallorca during the Spanish Civil War.\"This is an old and wicked island. An island of Phoenicians and merchants, of bloodsuckers and frauds.\"Ana Maria Matute's 1959 novel (original title Primera memoria) is a stifling story of rebellious adolescence, narrated by Matia, as she struggles against her domineering grandmother, schemes with her mercurial cousin Borja and begins to fall in love with the strange boy Manuel.Steeped in myth, fairy tale and biblical allusion, the novel depicts Mallorca as an enchanted but wicked island, a lost Eden and Never Never Land combined, where the sun burns through stained glass windows and the wind tears itself on the agaves. Ostensibly concerned with Matia's anxieties about entering the adult world, this internal conflict is set against the much wider, deeper, and more frightening conflict of the civil war as it plays out almost secretly on the island, set in turn against the backdrop of the Inquisition's mass burning of Jews in previous centuries. These two conflicts shimmer at the edges of Matia's highly subjective account of her life on the island, where life is drawn along painful and divisive lines. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780241374283

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Island (Paperback)
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241374286
• ISBN 13: 9780241374283
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

''This is an old and wicked island. An island of Phoenicians and merchants, of bloodsuckers and frauds''

Expelled from her convent school for kicking the prioress, and abandoned by her father when her mother dies, rebellious teenager Matia is sent to live with her domineering grandmother on the island of Mallorca. In the hot, oppressive stillness of an adolescent summer, she learns to scheme with her cousin Borja, and finds herself increasingly drawn to the strange outsider Manuel. But civil war has come to Spain, and it will teach Matia about the adult world in ways she could not foresee.

This powerful, lyrical coming-of-age novel depicts Mallorca as an enchanted island, a lost Eden and a Never Land combined, where ancient hatreds and present-day passions collide.

''brilliant, devastating . . . every character is remarkable and captivating'' The Times Literary Supplement

''a feverish, dramatic brew . . . the style is intoxicating . . . it offers a unique view of a part of Spain usually overlooked by literature'' The Irish Times