''Entre visillos'' (English: Behind the Curtains) is the first novel of the late Spanish writer

Carmen Martín Gaite Carmen Martín Gaite (8 December 1925 – 23 July 2000) was a Spanish author. She wrote many novels, short stories, screenplays, and essays, across many genres. Gaite was awarded the Premio Nadal in 1957 for '' Entre visillos'', the Prince ...

, who was from

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

. Published in 1957, it is considered one of the author's most important works, and it won the

Premio Nadal Premio Nadal is a Spanish literary prize awarded annually by the publishing house Ediciones Destino, part of Planeta. It has been awarded every year on 6 January since 1944. The Josep Pla Award for Catalan literature is given at the same ceremony. ...

in 1957. In a list published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, it was considered one of the best 100 Spanish novels of the 20th century.

Plot

Through seemingly trivial conversations among a group of young women, the tedium and emptiness of their lives is revealed. The plot centers on the arrival of Pablo Klein to the city to teach German at the high school, as his personality conflicts with the flat and conformist atmosphere that encloses the lives of the young women.

References

1957 novels 20th-century Spanish novels Spanish-language novels {{1950s-novel-stub