Introduction

El cuarto de atrás, written between November 1975 and April 1978, was first published in 1978 by Destino and was awarded the Premio Nacional de Literatura that year. By the time Martín Gaite was writing El cuarto de atrás, censorship, while still in place, was no longer as strict as it had been; it was abolished in 1978. When the novel was submitted to the censors in June 1978, the somewhat negative report mentions the author's fame, briefly outlines the plot, and notes ‘el prisma antifranquista con que contempla el proceso de la vida nacional’ (the anti-Francoist prism through which she views the process of national life). The censor also disputes the publisher's contention that this novel represents the inauguration of ‘un género absolutamente original’ (an absolutely original genre), before concluding that ‘en las actuales circunstancias su contenido carece de objección’ (in the current circumstances, its content is not objectionable). The novel was authorized, but the reference to the current climate suggests that it might have been censored at another time. Brown argues that the changes in censorship explain Martín Gaite's return in this novel to the autobiographical themes of Entre visillos. While it deals with themes explored in Entre visillos, the political commentary and style, as well as the focus on communication, memory and the narrative process, all signal the work of a freer and more mature writer. Unlike the earlier novel, El cuarto de atrás focuses more on the inner world and solitude of the author.