Marianela (1878) is a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós. Published toward
the beginning of Pérez Galdós' career, Marianela is a powerful story
of romance and disability that raises timeless questions regarding the
meaning of love and the values associated with beauty. Adapted several
times for film and television in Spain and abroad, the novel is Pérez
Galdós' most universal works of fiction. Everyone is familiar with the
phrase "love at first sight," but what about "love at first song?" In
Marianela, Benito Pérez Galdós explores the ways we understand love in
relation to worldly beauty. His contemporary fable is set in the
fictional town of Socartes, where a young orphan named Marianela
captures the heart of the blind youth Pablo through her beautiful
singing. Their love is pure, and they plan to marry, but Pablo's father
has other plans. Hiring the famous doctor Teodoro Golfín to restore his
son's eyesight, he unwittingly threatens the unique relationship between
Pablo and Marianela, whose physical features are far from society's
ideal. Although he promises to love her forever, Pablo feels pressured
to marry his cousin Florentina. With a beautifully designed cover and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Benito Pérez Galdós's
Marianela is a classic of Spanish literature reimagined for modern
readers.