The Island

Resumen del libro

'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.

Biografía del autor

(Barcelona, 1925-2014) Es una de las grandes narradoras de la literatura española. Su infancia quedó marcada por la Guerra Civil, que expandió su universo literario. Con solo diecisiete años escribió Pequeño teatro , publicada once años después y ganadora del Premio Planeta (1954). Siguieron el Nadal con Primera memoria (1959) y el Nacional de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil con Polizón del Ulises (1965) y Sólo un pie descalzo (1984). En 2010 recibió el Cervantes, coronando una trayectoria brillante.