First Memories

Ana Maria Matute — a Spanish writer. In 1976, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. After the publication of the novel «The Forgotten King Gudu» in 1996, she was elected a member of the Spanish Royal Academy — the third woman in the 300-year history of the academy. In 2010, she received the Cervantes Prize. Now Spanish writers can receive an award in her name.
«First Memories» — is the first part of the trilogy «The Merchants», continued by the novels «Soldiers Cry at Night» and «The Trap».
Matiya finds herself on an island, in a strange house, in an unfamiliar atmosphere of despotism, which she resists. The girl sees the inner aggression of each of the inhabitants growing.
The action of the novel takes place in Mallorca in the wartime year of 1936. The name of the island is not mentioned in the novel, but motifs related to its history are introduced into the book.
Ana Maria Matute wrote during one of the most difficult cultural periods in the history of Spain, a period of rejecting the old ideology and creating new intellectual traditions.
«I write to prompt the reader to think, to get an answer from them that I do not know, to protest». — Ana Maria Matute