Gironella Pous, Jose Maria

▪ 2004

      Spanish novelist (b. Dec. 31, 1917, Darníus, Spain—d. Jan. 3, 2003, Arenys de Mar, Spain), wrote the first best-selling novel published in Spain, Los cipreses creen en Dios (1953; The Cypresses Believe in God, 1955), set in the years immediately preceding the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). Gironella had fought in the war with the forces of Gen. Francisco Franco. The book, which sold three million copies and won the National Prize for Literature, attempted (and largely succeeded in) an even-handed evocation of the forces at work in Spain that led to the war. He followed it with Un millón de muertos (1961; One Million Dead, 1963), set during the war, and Ha estallado la paz (1966; Peace After War, 1969), set in the immediate postwar years; while well received, neither novel rose to the level of success of the first part of the trilogy. Gironella's output included several more novels, the last published in 2001, as well as short stories, memoirs, travel writing, and essays.

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