Prudenci Bertrana
From its first publication in 1906 this story of the sacrilegious love between Josafat, the bell-ringer and caretaker of Girona Cathedral, and Fineta, the prostitute, has shocked and enthralled generations of Catalan readers. It eventually led to its author and family being hounded out of Girona.
This first English translation of a classic of Catalan modernism lures the reader into the shadowy realm of a provincial cathedral, where the brawny bell-ringer from the countryside finds his lust for the voluptuous Fineta, herself in search of fresh sensual, ever more violent thrills, is too powerful for his faith and stewardship of the buildings hallowed spaces. A stricken conscience leads him to the confessional, where advice from a white-haired Jesuit opens the way for the appalling finale.
