Winner of Spain's National Prize for Literature, Carmen Martín Gaite'smasterpiece The Back RoomIn The Back Room Carmen Martín Gaite spins out a hypnotic evocation ofone woman's life counterpointed against the social history of modernSpain. The growth of a personal identity and the terrors of fascism arewoven together within the delicate fabric of this dreamlike narrative.The result is an intimate and existential confessional - partautobiography, part fiction. In direct and simple language, Martín Gaiteenvisions life within a world besieged. This, her finest work, exploresthe back room of memory with a quiet but irresistible power.About The AuthorCarmen Martín Gaite is one of Spain's leading novelists. She is theauthor of numerous works of fiction and criticism, including VariableClouds and, most recently, The Farewell Angel. The Back Room was thefirst of her novels to appear in Spain after the death of Franco, andthe first of her novels to be translated into English. In 1978 it wasawarded Spain's National Prize for Literature.