The Lady Bandit

by Emilia Pardo Bazán

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books

Priests with shotguns, scheming lovers and a necrophiliac gravedigger haunt the fables of Emilia Pardo Bazán, the formidable Spanish aristocrat, intellectual and feminist. These stories paint a rich and variegated image of Old Spain – sometimes tender, often provocative, always entertaining. But if you decide to visit, beware the Lady Bandit, whose strong, rough hands might grab your neck, and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze . . .

Genres: Classics, Fiction

133 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1881

About the author

Emilia Pardo Bazán was a Galician author and scholar from Galicia. She is known for bringing naturalism to Spanish literature, for her detailed descriptions of reality, and for her role in feminist literature of her era.
Her first novel, Pascual López (1879), is a simple exercise in fantasy of no remarkable promise, though it contains good descriptive passages of romance. It was followed by a more striking story, Un viaje de novios (1881), in which a discreet attempt was made to introduce into Spain the methods of French realism. The book caused a sensation among the literary cliques, and this sensation was increased by the appearance of another naturalistic tale, La tribuna (1885), wherein the influence of Émile Zola is unmistakable. Meanwhile, the writer's reply to her critics was issued under the title of La cuestion palpitante (1883), a clever piece of rhetoric, but of no special value as regards criticism or dialectics.
The best of Emilia Pardo Bazán's work is embodied in Los pazos de Ulloa (1886), the painfully exact history of a decadent aristocratic family. A sequel, with the significant title of La madre naturaleza (1887), marks a further advance in the path of naturalism.
She was also a journalist, essayist and critic. She died in Madrid.

Reviews

[Amy Siggery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed in the beginning, the stories seemed to feel shorter toward the end and yet somehow harder to get through? I enjoy her writing style and the shock factors to her short stories but wish some of them were longer :)

[Rosa van Geffen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Emre Julius Bas-Duraman · Rating 5 out of 5]

very well written short stories exploring small town life of Spain long ago, with feminist undertones and critical wit Bazán creates enticing stories that are easy to follow and fun to read however absurd it gets

[ff𓂃 ☠︎︎ ၴႅၴ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much!! who decided this, so lazy and useless like be fr. “LADY BANDIT” actually kms way better more beautiful titles. could have actually been a challenging/worthwhile read but the selection was soooooooo. And why start the book with the most shock factor pieces just for it to lead nowhere since the rest were MUCH less aggressive and disturbing. buzzwords “necrophilia” and “feminist” shut up

[Ananya M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 4/5 ⭐️ such fun, raucous stories, I was throughly entertained!! Enjoyed this much more than I expected

[&rea Suven · Rating 3 out of 5]

A handful of stories were captivating, others faded quite instantly

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining collection.

[Caitlín Ní Dochartaigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars, really enjoyed