1876
Doña Perfecta
Benito Pérez Galdós · 1843–1920 · Spain
Originally Doña Perfecta (Spanish)
Why it matters
A freethinking engineer arrives in a stagnant provincial town and collides with his zealot aunt over his cousin's hand. Galdós's sharpest early satire of clerical tyranny and Spanish provincial deadweight.
At a glance
satirepsychological novel
Difficulty 4/10medium pace256 pagesStraightforward realist prose driven mostly by dialogue and social conflict.
Where to go next
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Marcel Proust · 1913Swann's WayLvl 8Slow burn
Camilo José Cela · 1942The Family of Pascual DuarteLvl 4Medium pace