El inefable Philip

With this edition El inefable Philip by Aurora Bertrana is published for the first time. In the novel Bertrana tells the story of Anna, a bourgeois woman obsessed with Philip, an extraordinary handsome man who was the son of a thread manufacturer from England. For Anna Philip's beauty is such that she sees him as if he was a deity. Anna manages to marry him despite Philip's warning that he will never be able to make any woman happy. Anna disregards Philip's revelation. She believes that through her charms and pleasing Philip in every way she will change her husband's mind. However, Anna's attempts are futile. Philip is attracted to men and for nothing in the world he would give up his freedom and pleasures. In addition to a failed marriage, with Philip Anna discovers alternative ways of living. However, the modern and bohemian life that Philip and his friends propose to Anna is too far from her traditional values and beliefs. For this reason, when Philip dies in a hospital after suffering a traffic accident, Anna decides to marry her lifelong friend Agustí Bruguera.

In her novel Bertrana criticizes the economic dependence of women and the lazy and irresponsible life of the bourgeois like Philip who lives at the expense of others without working or producing anything. The novel deals with forbidden topics at that time, such as homosexuality, lesbianism, infidelity and divorce. These issues caused serious problems to Bertrana when she wanted to publish her novel. Publishers were uncomfortable with the idea of making public the way of living of the bourgeoisie and their vices. The introduction to this translation includes a discussion of these issues and offers a critical study of the author and her work -and in particular of El inefable Philip. This book is ideal for courses of Spanish and Catalan language and literature, Culture, History and Society, Gender and Women's Studies.
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