INSTITUTO CERVANTES TRANSLATION AWARD 2004
Volume II
In the bleak and suffocating environment of a provincial town in 19th-century Spain, Regina seeks happiness through religion, marriage, and finally adultery. The quest will prove futile, barren, and destructive. A master of realism, Clarín composes a vivid and satirical portrait of the society of his time, while incisively exploring the inner life of his characters.
Regenta exhibits the same fascinating combination of outstanding humor, seriousness, and moral sensibility as the other masterpiece of Spanish literature, Don Quixote. Clarín’s Regenta is the most important Spanish novel of the 19th century and stands alongside Flaubert’s Madame Bovary in the library of masterpieces of world literature.
