The Reception of Elinor Glyn's work in Spain (1926-1957)

The work of the British author Elinor Glyn was wildly successful in Spain. Twenty-five of her books were published between the years of 1926 and 1957 by Editorial Edita, during a period when the publishing sector created a number of collections of romance novels aimed mainly at female readers. Glyn's work was characterized by a high degree of exoticism and sensuality, far removed from the traditional, conservative world-view espoused in domestically written novels like those by Rafael Pérez y Pérez. The author's success was reflected in the Spanish press of the 1920s and 1930s. In addition, some of her most iconic works were adapted for the cinema and played on screens in Spain, which in turn helped to increase her popularity further. Her characters’ outbursts of passion caused the first editions of her books to be accompanied by texts justifying their publication and defending their suitability for female readers. Literary catalogues, listings that classified books according to moral criteria, did not share this opinion and deemed the books suitable only for highly educated readers.