Misericordia

Author: Benito Perez Galdos

Translator: Charles de Salis   Edited by: Andrew Crumey   Cover illustration: Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes  

"Crushed by poverty or the weight of their pretensions, the high and low life of 19th century Madrid provides the cast for this enjoyably bleak portrait of a family's decline, fall and recovery. The widow Dona Francisca, reduced from salon to slum, is protected by her servant Benita, who begs and barters in a daily battle with starvation and her mistress's pride. When a sudden inheritance enriches the old crow, Benita is cast aside. Galdos's Spain teems with saints and sinners, corrupted as much by poverty as by wealth."
The Sunday Times