Spain: writer Almudena Grandes dies, a key figure in national literature

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November 27, 2021 Almudena Grandes, one of the best known Spanish contemporary writers to the general public, died at the age of 61.

The Iberian media reported it.

Grandes, who captivated audiences with her novel "The Age of Lulu" had long been ill with cancer.

"We lose one of the leading writers of our time", tweeted Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Perdemos to a de las escritoras referentes de nuestro tiempo. Comprometida y valiente, which has narrado nuestra historia reciente desde a progressive mirada.

Tu recuerdo, tu obra, siempre estará con nosotros, Almudena Grandes.

Un abrazo a su familia y seres queridos. pic.twitter.com/m8N7qlBNKr

- Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) November 27, 2021

Born in Madrid in 1960, Almudena Grandes has always shown a great attention to female characters: since her literary debut, the writer impressed (and conquered) the public thanks to a intriguing female heroine, the protagonist of the novel "The Ages of Lulù" (Guanda, translation by Ilide Carmignani), characterized by a profound eroticism, defined by her own sensuality and sexuality, which end up tracing her destiny, through a desire that becomes a catalyst for every significant choice and even the metronome that marks its existence and formation.

His last book, in 2020, was "The ideal daughter" which is the fifth book in the historical series "Episodes of an interminable war", a collection of independent novels that tell Franco's Spain through the lives of different characters , from the years of the civil war to the 1960s. The first novel of the series, "Inés and happiness" (Guanda, translation by Roberta Bovaia) tells the story of a young Spanish woman of aristocratic origin who, unlike her family, takes sides against the Falange, a choice that will pay off high price, ending up locked up in the women's prison of Ventas, then in a convent and finally in the Pyrenees. All that remains for Inés is to exercise what little freedom she has left, through a small gesture of insubordination:listen to the party's clandestine radio program.