A flatlay of classic books about dysfunctional families

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Reading lists

Must-read classics about dysfunctional families

The House of Ulloa

A rich and unforgettable tragic-comic novel of sexual intrigue and political scheming, The House of Ulloa is one of the greatest works of nineteenth-century Spanish literature. 
 
The House of Ulloa follows pure and pious Father Julián Alvarez, who is sent to a remote country estate to put the affairs of the marquis, an irresponsible libertine, in order. When he discovers moral decadence, cruelty and corruption at his new home, Julián's well-meaning but ineffectual attempts to prevent the fall of the House of Ulloa end in tragedy. Combining gothic elements with humour and social satire, The House of Ulloa is the finest achievement of Emilia Pardo Bazán, a prolific writer, feminist, traveller and intellectual, and one of the most dynamic figures of her time. 
 
Brilliantly balancing biting satire and gothic undertones, and evoking a rich sense of place, this is a wonderful novel that deserves to be ranked with the other great books of the period. 
 
The Countess Emilia Pardo Bazán was born in 1851 and married at sixteen. After separating from her husband, she embarked on an affair with novelist Benito Pérez Galdós. The House of Ulloa (1886) is generally considered as her masterpiece among her many literary works. 
 
Professor Paul O'Prey is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Roehampton, London. 
 
Lucia Graves has translated works by Robert Graves, Anaïs Nin, Katherine Mansfield and Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and is the author of a memoir, A Woman Unknown, and a novel, The Memory House. 
 
'An absolutely first-rate novelist [...] Bazán's genius lies in the way she mixes comedy, farce, realism and heightened-pitch hysteria with a dash of gothic [...] People may travel by donkey in this book, but it could have been written yesterday' - Nick Lezard, Guardian 
 
'Pardo Bazán's mastery of social types and of the political currents that swirled around the liberal revolution are unsurpassed in Spanish literature ... O'Prey and Graves ... avoid awkward literalisms while nonetheless remaining true to the spirit of the original' New Criterion

An absolutely first-rate novelist [...] Bazán's genius lies in the way she mixes comedy, farce, realism and heightened-pitch hysteria with a dash of gothic [...] People may travel by donkey in this book, but it could have been written yesterday

Pardo Bazán's mastery of social types and of the political currents that swirled around the liberal revolution are unsurpassed in Spanish literature ... O'Prey and Graves ... avoid awkward literalisms while nonetheless remaining true to the spirit of the original

The Countess Emilia Pardo Bazán was born in 1851 and married at sixteen. After separating from her husband, she embarked on an affair with novelist Benito Pérez Galdós. The House of Ulloa (1886) is generally considered as her masterpiece among her many literary works. 
 
Professor Paul O'Prey is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Roehampton, London. 
 
Lucia Graves has translated works by Robert Graves, Anaïs Nin, Katherine Mansfield and Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and is the author of a memoir, A Woman Unknown, and a novel, The Memory House.

One of the greatest nineteenth-century Spanish novels, The House of Ulloa follows pure and pious Father Julián Alvarez, who is sent to a remote country estate to put the affairs of the marquis, an irresponsible libertine, in order. When he discovers moral decadence, cruelty and corruption at his new home, Julián's well-meaning but ineffectual attempts to prevent the fall of the House of Ulloa end in tragedy. Combining gothic elements with humour and social satire, The House of Ulloa is the finest achievement of Emilia Pardo Bazán, a prolific writer, feminist, traveller and intellectual, and one of the most dynamic figures of her time.

Emilia Pardo Bazán

Priests with shotguns, scheming lovers and a necrophiliac gravedigger haunt the fables of Emilia Pardo Bazán, the formidable Spanish aristocrat, intellectual and feminist. These stories paint a rich and variegated image of Old Spain – sometimes tender, often provocative, always entertaining. But if you decide to visit, beware the Lady Bandit, whose strong, rough hands might grab your neck, and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze . . .

The Lady Bandit

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Must-read classics about dysfunctional families

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