Introduction

Since the nineteenth century, the role of women in society and women's perception of themselves have dramatically altered. In La enredadera, La Casa Gris and Hermanas, Aldecoa charts the emergence and development of women's self-awareness and position in both Spanish and British society. However, this progression is contrasted with the persistence of what Aldecoa has termed ‘the feminine condition’, namely motherhood, which continues to have an impact, both positively and negatively, on women's lives. Each novel represents a very different period during Aldecoa's literary career. La enredadera was Aldecoa's first published novel (1984) and La Casa Gris (2005) her penultimate publication, despite its original composition many decades earlier, while Hermanas (2008) is Aldecoa's final text. These novels examine women's changing role in society during distinct periods in history, the nineteenth century, and the 1950s through to the 1990s. They reveal how the question of women's identity is perpetually evolving and remains an important issue in contemporary society.

La enredadera re-creates two contrasting periods for women in Spanish history, the nineteenth century and the late twentieth century. It follows the lives of two very different women, Clara, a nineteenth-century wife and mother, and Julia, a career-focused woman in 1980s Spain, as they both come to terms with their chosen destinies and face the challenges of motherhood. In telling the story of two different women, living in the same house a century apart, Aldecoa confronts the issues of gender stereotypes, relationships, identity, motherhood and the mother–daughter dyad.