Arquimbau, Rosa MarÃa / Escritor
Published for the first time in 1971, Forty Lost Years tells the story of Laura Vidal, a woman who becomes a
high-fashion dressmaker to the rich women of Barcelona during FrancoÂ’s dictatorship. Rosa Maria ArquimbauÂ’s
masterpiece relives forty years of Catalan history from the proclamation of the Republic to the end of the 1960s
and recreates the frivolous atmosphere of sexually liberal republican Barcelona and the desolation of a country
defeated by the Fascists.
“The author filters her own experiences and reflections on the period through her magnificent prose and a
prism of personal and political insights that perfectly represent living under a dictatorship and the pain and
suffering that society went through. An essential book.”
Esther Vilar Portillo, Carà cters
“A beautifully written, bitter novel about the loss of innocence. Its disenchanted, melancholic tone sets the scene for what is one of the most powerful novels about life under Franco.”
Pere Guixà , La Vanguardia
Peter Bush
Peter Bush is one of the outstanding literary translators in the world. He has won countless awards for his translations and is responsible for bringing works by Josep Pla, Merce Rodoreda and Joan Sales to English-language
reader. He has held key positions in a number of the most important translation organisations.
