Marianela

Marianela (1878) is a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós. Published toward the beginning of Pérez Galdós’ career, Marianela is a powerful story of romance and disability that raises timeless questions regarding the meaning of love and the values associated with beauty. Adapted several times for film and television in Spain and abroad, the novel is Pérez Galdós’ most universal works of fiction. Everyone is familiar with the phrase “love at first sight,” but what about “love at first song?” In Marianela, Benito Pérez Galdós explores the ways we understand love in relation to worldly beauty. His contemporary fable is set in the fictional town of Socartes, where a young orphan named Marianela captures the heart of the blind youth Pablo through her beautiful singing. Their love is pure, and they plan to marry, but Pablo’s father has other plans. Hiring the famous doctor Teodoro Golfín to restore his son’s eyesight, he unwittingly threatens the unique relationship between Pablo and Marianela, whose physical features are far from society’s ideal. Although he promises to love her forever, Pablo feels pressured to marry his cousin Florentina. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Benito Pérez Galdós’s Marianela is a classic of Spanish literature reimagined for modern readers.