Carmen Laforet
Carmen Laforet was born in Barcelona but moved at a young age after losing her mother. Her father went on to marry someone who wasn't exactly favoured by the rest of the family, a theme which would be seen in her later work. She studied philosophy at the University of Barcelona and later studied law, but this was put on hold after she realised during the second year she would prefer to write full time. So she left her studies to dedicate herself to writing. Soon afterwards she finished her first piece to be published; the novel, called Nada, won itself a fair share of attention as well as the Nadal Prize in its first year. It is a story of female adolescence and follows a young girl's story of development.
It is considered a strong piece and is without a doubt her most famous work. She would later find herself alienated from her critics; she didn't trust them, which is understandable as they weren't forgiving of the fact she couldn't top her first novel, but she still managed to publish a total of five novels. An example of this is her 1952 piece La Isla y los Demonios, which is the prequel to Nada. After her death, Al volver la Esquina was published; this novel is regarded as a great example of her talents within specific genres, with this particular piece focusing on psychological aspects.
Some of her best work includes
- Nada
- La isla y los demonios
- La mujer nueva
- Un matrimonio
- La insolación
- Al volver la esquina