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Pa negre
“Black Bread is an exceptional novel. Written in striking literary language, it describes post-war life in Catalonia through the eyes of a young boy who doesn’t understand the compromises the adults have to reach in order to survive.” (Peter Bush)
Halfway between memoir and fiction, 'Pa negre' centres on Andrés, a boy who grows up in the harshest post-war years in Catalonia. He comes from a family of losers: his father, a man of strong Republican ideals, has been imprisoned for being a 'red'; his mother has been forced to work in a factory and entrusts her son to some relatives who live in the country. Bit by bit, a considerable change takes place in Andrés, who goes from being a loser to feeling like a winner, in a metaphor for a country that assimilates defeat and passively accepts a victory not its own.