Froth

Clementina is losing her youth in the fashionable world of late-nineteenth century Madrid and takes a younger lover. Meanwhile her father, the Duke de Requena, a rapacious businessman and one of the richest men in the city, is determined to outdo his rivals. When Clementina and her father clash over her mother's will, who will come out the winner? A biting satire with an ensemble cast of wealthy aristocratic and would-be aristocratic characters, Froth (La Espuma) was one of two novels by Armando Palacio Valdés translated for Edmund Gosse's Heinemann International Library series, which introduced English readers to European authors who would otherwise have remained unknown. This edition comes with an Introduction to the author by Gosse and a concluding Editor's Note on the series. (Summary by Philip Benson)