Spanish writer Almudena Grandes has died at the age of 61, her publisher reports. She was known as one of the most important contemporary Spanish authors.
Grandes announced last month in the newspaper El País that she had been suffering from cancer for a year. She died on Saturday in a hospital in Madrid.
She debuted in 1989 with the erotic novel The ages of Lulu (Episodes from the life of Lulu) about the need to make an erotic catch up after the prudishness during the Franco dictatorship. The book was a huge success and was made into a movie.
Civil War
In later work, Grandes dealt with the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the subsequent Franco era. Her books are about the leftists and Republicans who lost the Civil War. “Grandes had the curiosity of the historian and the strength of the novelist,” writes El País. She described herself as “republican, leftist and anti-church”.
Grandes has won many literary prizes. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calls her one of the most important contemporary writers. “Committed and courageous, who has told our recent history from a progressive perspective,” Sanchez said on Twitter.
The Spanish publisher Tusquets Editores announced the death of Grandes:
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