Almudena Grandes (Madrid, 1960) became widely known as a writer in 1989
with her novel Las edades de Lulú,
which won the XI Sonrisa Vertical Prize. She
has received the acclaim of readers and critics ever since. She is the author
of eleven novels and two books of short stories that have established
her as one of the most solid and internationally-known narrators in contemporary
Spanish literature. Many of her works have been taken to the big screen, and
her novel, El corazón
helado, one of the most acclaimed and
long-lasting successes in current Spanish literature, has received, among other
awards, the Fundación Lara Prize, the prizes of the booksellers in Madrid and Seville, the Rapallo Carige in
Italy and the Prix Méditerranée in France. Her novel Inés y la alegría was
awarded the Critics Prize in Madrid in
2011, the Elena Poniatowska Prize 2011 and the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize 2011, and
El lector de Julio Verne was selected
best book of 2012 by the readers of El
País.