The Ravine (El Barranco) (S U N Y Series, Women Writers in Translation)

Fictional narrative of a young girl’s experiences at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

Set in the Canary Islands at the outset of the Spanish Civil War, The Ravine is the provocative, disturbing account of a child’s experience with war. Narrated by an unnamed seven-year-old girl, the story begins in the early days of the war when her father―a staunch supporter of the Republic―goes into hiding. As the girl and her family await news of his whereabouts, they learn he is taken prisoner, brought to trial, and eventually sentenced to forced labor in a concentration camp. Confused and bereft, they visit him in the camp, hoping he will be spared the firing squad and the subsequent “burial” in the ravine, a fate that befalls so many prisoners.

Acclaimed since its original appearance in French in 1958, The Ravine has been published in several languages and remains the novel for which Nivaria Tejera is best known. This is the first English translation.