LA FAMILIA DE ALVAREDA of Fernin Caballero, pseudonym of Cecilia Bohl de Faber, is one of the best-known works of that author. The outline was first sketched in German in 1822 but the book in its present form was not published until 1856. It is one of the first novels of manners in modern Spanish literature and bears the sttb-title, "Novel of popular customs.* The author states in the preface that the story was taken in its essential details from events narrated to her. The plot centres about the murder of Ventura by his jealous friend, Perico de Alva reda, and the degradation of the latter into bandit and outlaw. The tragedy culminates in the execution of Perico and the death and dis integration of his own family and that of his victim. The tale merely serves as a vehicle for a vivid and picturesque description of An dalusian village life in the early part of the 19th century. Popular legends, traditions, and
folksongs are generously interspersed. . The au thor constantly obtrudes her moral both in the narrative itself and in footnotes, and insists that the Spanish peasant can be happy only by clinging to the religious faith and the simple customs of his forefathers. The book is liked by Spaniards because of its didactic and moral note, and is valued by foreigners because it is one of the many human documents of Spanish literature. There is a German translation of this tale. Caballero, much to her annoyance, was claimed as a German because of her father's German origin. There is a good an. notated American edition • by P. B. Burnet. An account of the author's life and work may be found in the complete edition of her works, Vol. I, in the 'Coleccien de Escritores Castel lanos.'