Albert Pijuan recommends a hidden gem of Catalan literature.

BarcelonaAlbert Pijuan, who received the latest Crexells award for the novel The Great Replacement (Ángulo), recognizes that he has "a predilection for daytime novels, especially the short ones, the ones you can read in one go and the time of the book becomes confused with that of reality." In this category, he highlights a story that has recently impressed him, One night, by Domènec Guansé (Tarragona, 1894 - Barcelona, 1978), that Adesiara rescued from oblivion a couple of years ago: had not been reissued since 1935.

"A One night We found Guansé at his best, says Pijuan. It is one of the few times, if not the only time, that a man from Tarragona could pass for Central European. The novel begins with the news of a death. "My friend Mauricio: Aurelia passed away today. If you come, you can still see her": this is the message Joana conveys to the protagonist of the book, which focuses on the wake of the young woman with whom the man had been in love while, at the same time, memories assail him, "all rather bitter, tinged with melancholy." Domènec Guansé was one of the critics The Rambla, Lookout and Advertising. In addition to translating works by Balzac, Voltaire, and Maupassant, he published novels, short story collections, plays, and essays.One night It is a good example of how during the years of the Second Republic the Catalan novel embarked on the path towards modernity –says Antoni Isarch, a scholar of Guansé and author of the prologue to the Adesiara edition–. There were old modernists like Víctor Català, but also a younger generation, with Mercè Rodoreda and Francesc Trabal, and finally a series of authors who were up to date with what was being published throughout Europe, including Carles Soldevila, Rafael Tasis and Guansé himself."