Nada is a novel based on the story of a young girl who moves to Barcelona in hopes of experiencing the colours of life, and finds herself in the midst of a broken and cruel family.

I really liked this novel. I liked how the explosive and violent energies of the characters and their actions contrasted against the almost comical narration of Andrea, who from the perspective of a young university student, provided the basis for an honest and emotional storytelling of life with her extended family.

What caught me off guard was the amount of violence in the novel, whether it be Juan hitting Gloria, Roman verbally abusing her, or just the general energy of the household and the internal traumas of the characters themselves. I read that the context of the novel is rooted in the post Spanish civil war, and so all the characters and their crushed dreams, problems, and emotional volatility really convey the importance of this novel during the time.

I thought that the relationship between Ena and Andrea was quite interesting. Andrea comes across as a fairly rebellious girl, and it was interesting to see that same sentiment reflected in Ena, who also towards the end of the novel, expressed the joy she received from winding Roman up. There seems to be a strong theme of both freedom, and rebellion, with the latter often bringing out the former. I think this would probably reflect the post-war sentiments, where not only did a chaotic conception of life become alluring or familiar/ordinary due to the on-going war, but maybe seemed like the only way to gain freedom.

I don’t really know anything about the war other than the few google searches I’ve done just now, but it’s clear that Andrea’s family reflected the lower class people that were on the side of a republic. As such, the lives of the lower class and the brokenness and trauma in them is reflected in the characters, who we see from the beginning are very distressed and broken.

My question is: what did you think of Ena and Roman’s relationship? What larger theme did you think it represented? What did it really signify?