Doña Perfecta

Book excerpt: Doña Perfecta (1876) is a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós. Published toward the beginning of Pérez Galdós’ career, Doña Perfecta is a powerful story of romance and religion that raises timeless questions regarding the meaning of love and the restrictions placed on individual lives by the Catholic Church. Adapted several times for film and television in Spain and abroad, the novel is one of Pérez Galdós’ most beloved works of fiction. “‘What more can I tell you of Dona Rosarito but that that she is the living image of her mother? You will have a treasure, Senor Don Jose, if it is true, as I hear, that you have come to be married to her. She will be a worthy mate for you, and the young lady will have nothing to complain of, either.’” Don Jose Rey, known to friends and family as Pepe, arrives in the cathedral city of Orbajosa to marry his cousin Rosario. A young liberal, Jose has mixed feelings regarding the institution of marriage and the place of the Catholic church, but decides to obey his father’s wishes and go ahead with the marriage as it has been arranged. When a disagreement arises between Pepe’s father and Doña Perfecta, the mother of Rosario, their spite threatens to destroy the lives of the two young lovers. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Benito Pérez Galdós’s Doña Perfecta is a classic of Spanish literature reimagined for modern readers.