Nada

Carmen Laforet’s first novel, Nada, tells the coming-of-age story of Andrea, an orphan who moves from a convent in provincial Spain to the city of Barcelona. Published to widespread acclaim in 1945 when Laforet was just 23, the novel won the Premio Nadal literary prize. Known for its artful portrayal of the poverty, class stratification, and domestic struggles many families faced after the Spanish Civil War, Nada paints a realistic portrait of life under Francisco Franco’s rule without overt discussions of politics.

Plot Summary

The novel begins with Andrea leaving a sleepy remote Spanish province to attend university, having learned that the Spanish government has given her a full scholarship. She moves in with estranged family members living in her formerly well-off (but now impoverished) grandmother’s apartment on Calle de Aribau. They include her Aunt Angustias, a tyrannical Catholic woman; her Uncle Román, an eccentric, formerly renowned musician; her Uncle Juan, a failed painter who abuses his beautiful young wife, Gloria; and Gloria, a spirited young woman from a poor family, of whom Angustias disapproves. Upon moving in with her family, Andrea discovers that they’ve been forced to sell half of the home after her grandfather’s death, moving their belongings into a tight, cramped space.