A memoir in the style of a collection of essays, Granada Window is very much a work of the author's time, painting a beautiful, colorful image of an Englishwoman's experience in Spain.

From the countryside to a treacherous journey through the mountains with less-than-preferable companions, from bullfighters to matrimonial spats, the book presents snippets of what it was like for Marguerite Steen to live in Granada. An attempt to uncover the secrets of the granadino personality, Steen paints her Granada in beautiful, bold strokes that draws the reader into the sluggishly warm embrace of mid-twentieth century Spain.

While beautifully written, Granada Window necessitates a certain understanding of the time period it was written in as there is a tendency to make sweeping, not necessarily flattering judgments on whole groups of people on the basis of ethnicity, location, or status. However, the world that Steen paints is beautiful and clear, vivid and gloriously in-depth.

Thanks to the publisher for a digital copy.