Celestina

The racy and irreverent Spanish tragicomedy that is considered the first European novel-in a spirited new translation A Spanish Romeo and Juliet, Celestinawas published in 1499 and became Spain's first-ever bestseller. Readers thrilled to the salty character of Celestina and her world of prostitutes and black magic even as they mourned the fate of Calisto and Melibea, the young lovers she unites using her wiles as a seller of perfumes and potions. Fernando de Rojas's exhilarating mix of street wit, obscenity, and cultured rhetoric mark Celestinaas a masterpiece: an original, explosive, genre-defying work that paved the way for the picaresque novel and for Cervantes.

Fernando de Rojas (c.1470-1541) wrote Celestina in his mid-twenties and went on to practice law during the early years of the Spanish Inquisition.
Peter Bush is an award-winning translator from Spanish and Catalan.
Juan Goytisolo was an outspoken critic of the Franco regime and has lived in exile for more than fifty years, mostly in France and Morocco. His novels include Marks of Identity, Count Julian, and Juan the Landless.