Juanita la Larga

Although Juanita la Larga (1895) reflects the customs of Cordovan rural society of the late nineteenth century, Juan Valera (1824-1905) maintains in this novel its aesthetic principles, as opposed to naturalistic determinism: "In the world of fantasy, which it is the world of the novel, we must admit, no longer as plausible, but as true, all the legitimate creatures of fantasy". This "last classic idyll of Spanish literature" which tells the love story between a widower in his fifties and a young woman who, marked by the stigma of an illegitimate daughter, strives to reaffirm her personality, is a story that overflows with strength, freshness and humor.