Bordeaux, a shrewd and moving portrayal of life in contemporary Europe, is the first novel to appear in English by Soledad Puértolas, one of the most acclaimed writers in Spain today.

A novel that subtly takes the measure of our time, Bordeaux traces the fates of three people: Pauline Duvivier, an elderly woman who lives a solitary life in a tranquil suburb of Bordeaux; René Dufour, a Frenchman involved in unfulfilling relationships with several women; and Lilly Skalnick, a young American woman traveling in Europe. Their stories, which take place in France and elsewhere throughout Europe and the United States, intersect in seemingly random yet revealing ways, gradually forming a complex social portrait. Unifying all their stories are the themes of loneliness, restlessness, and the search for meaning in a world in which neither the past nor the present offers firm answers or lasting consolations.

Born in 1947, Soledad Puértolas has been a leading force in Spain’s cultural renaissance of the last two decades. Her literary awards include the Premio Sésamo, awarded to promising young authors in Spain, and the coveted Premio Planeta. All of her novels have appeared in French, and several have been published in German, Italian, and Portuguese translations. Francisca González-Arias is an assistant professor of Spanish at Merrimack College. She is the author of Portrait of a Woman As Artist: Emilia Pardo Bazán and the Modern Novel in Spain and France.