Censorship and stagnation after the Civil War The scowling maid, Antonia, lurks in the shadows with her dog, relishing the violence. Andrea’s tiny, tremulous grandmother tries to keep the peace, recalling how “there were never two brothers who loved each other like Román and Juanito”. Juan can be found either beating Gloria or painting bad nudes of her to sell for a pittance. If Gloria gets involved, Juan turns on her. Andrea’s arrogant artistic uncle Román goads his hot-headed brother, Juan, usually about his “piece of trash” wife, Gloria, who Román claims is obsessed with him. Every day, the same violent dramas recur. Arriving at her grandparents’ crumbling apartment, Andrea enters “what seemed like a nightmare”: a ragged array of relatives teetering between madness and starvation.Īndrea’s grandfather is dead and the household is under the command of her authoritarian aunt, Angustias, who promises to “mould” Andrea into obedience.
Once glorious, Barcelona is now defeated and dilapidated, “its silence vivid with the respiration of a thousand souls behind darkened balconies”.
0 kommentar(er)
