El pez sigue flotando

In this novel, Dolores Medio, winner of the Nadal Prize in 1952, paints a remarkably accurate portrait of 1950s society, beneath which lies a subtle critique of the stagnation of the dictatorship in that self-absorbed, self-contained Spain, steeped in mediocrity and fear of public opinion. It is a novel of isolated characters who live apart from one another, despite being neighbors in the same building, sharing a common courtyard. They are seamstresses, typists, doormen of a modest building, dancers, shopkeepers… Middle-class characters, ordinary Spaniards. An extraordinary ensemble novel in which the author skillfully weaves together all the stories, and which the reader observes from the windowsill of any window in this human universe, amidst the aromas of stews, laundry hanging out to dry, and the sounds of neighborly life.