Education
Matute’s education suffered because of childhood illnesses, the family’s frequent moves between Barcelona and Madrid, and the disruptions of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39).
Matute’s education suffered because of childhood illnesses, the family’s frequent moves between Barcelona and Madrid, and the disruptions of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39).
The Spanish civil war is generally considered the most important formative influence on her career. The fear, the horror, and the injustice of war impelled Matute to write, and the subject of her novels is often the war itself. Her fiction is often peopled with sad, alienated adolescents, growing into adulthood in a world divided by the hate and despair of war. Her prose is noted for its sensitivity and delicacy. At just 17 she had already written and illustrated her first novel which was published 8 years later. Her work is a personal and unmistakeable combination of reality and fantasy, social condemnation and poetic courage.
“Los Abel” ("The Abels")
“Los Soldados Lloran de Noche” ("Soldiers Cry By Night")
“La Trampa” ("The Trap")
"El polizón del Ulises" ("Ulysses' Stowaway")
"Sólo un pie descalzo" ("Just One Bare Foot")
"Fiesta al Noroeste" ("Celebration in the Northwest")
"Los Ninos Tontos" ("The Stupid Children")
"Pequeño Teatro" ("Little Theatre”)