Nada

When she was a very young and prosperous woman, Andrea’s grandmother was the first tenant in the apartment on Calle de Aribau when the street was “just beginning to take shape” (11). She came with Andrea’s grandfather with whom she had a complex relationship. After the war and the death of her husband, however, Andrea’s grandmother let half of the house be sold off, the connecting doors plastered, and her fine furniture piled precariously in the living room.

At the time of the novel, Andrea’s grandmother is a very thin and long-suffering woman who often forsakes her own well-being for the comfort of others (frequently caring for Juan and Gloria’s baby, and habitually leaving Andrea portions of her own food while she goes hungry). She is deeply religious, prays devotedly, and speaks often of her saints.

Though Andrea’s grandmother is a kind and giving woman, the novel subtly questions her character and motivations. In Chapter 8, Aunt Angustias expresses bitterness toward her for defending Gloria’s wayward behavior considering grandmother’s strictness toward Angustias and her sisters in their youth. In Chapter 23, grandmother’s estranged daughters confront her about mistreating them while enabling Juan and Román.

The novel also questions the grandmother’s knowledge and awareness. Though she is generally portrayed as a light-hearted but senile woman, she occasionally signals clear lucidity regarding her situation, and even gestures toward knowledge that other family members do not possess—as when she tells Juan, “things are not always what they seem” (64).

Andrea’s Aunt Angustias is an extremely Catholic woman who is a commanding and controlling presence within the household. She especially harshly criticizes Gloria, who comes from a poor and less reputable family. Much of Angustias’s Catholic rhetoric and the large cross she keeps in her room are redolent of Falangism—the authoritative, conservative ideology associated with Francisco Franco. Many critics feel that Angustias is a stand-in for women’s experience living under Franco’s rule.

Angustias is also critical of Andrea for being an orphan, echoing the rhetoric of priests and nuns who harshly rebuked the orphaned children of “Reds.” The novel suggests many possible interpretations of Andrea’s unrevealed past and Angustias’s motivations for criticizing her so harshly, ranging from Román’s own history as a spy for the “Reds” to Andrea’s mysterious parentage.

Aunt Angustias feels a strong responsibility to shape Andrea into her notion of a proper woman. She especially wishes to prevent Andrea from walking through Barcelona unsupervised and preventing her from entering the Barrio Chino, which Angustias likens to “the devil’s glitter” (43). As Andrea becomes an independent and autonomous young woman, however, Angustias expresses deep insecurity with her role as an alternative mother. Frustrated, she exclaims, “If I’d gotten hold of you when you were younger, I’d have beaten you to death!” (80).

Though Aunt Angustias is inarguably tyrannical, she also has a softer side, and Andrea appreciates the ways in which she holds the family together. For example, Andrea greatly admires that Angustias keeps her own bedroom neat, orderly, and clean compared to the rest of the house. She also comes to appreciate the role Angustias plays in maintaining the household budget—the family’s finances quickly spin out of control in her absence.

The novel gradually reveals that Angustias’s anxiety about the family’s reputation on Calle de Aribau extends deeper than Gloria and Andrea’s behavior. She is worried about suspicion being directed toward her own involvement with her boss, Don Jerónimo. Though Andrea’s grandmother insists that Angustias is not romantically involved with Don Jerónimo—or, at least, that her involvement is not what it seems on the surface—Juan repeatedly rails against the affair, accusing Angustias of deep hypocrisy.

When Aunt Angustias announces her decision to move to a convent, which seems conveniently timed with the disappearance of Don Jerónimo, Juan’s accusations of her affair grow increasingly bold. When she leaves the train station, Juan shouts from the platform: “You’re a wretch! Do you hear me?” (87)

Don Jerónimo is Angustias’s boss, and the man with whom Juan believes that Angustias is having an affair. Andrea recalls him often being present at the apartment when she visited as a girl. Don Jerónimo also appears to have some connection with Román’s black market smuggling activities which may explain his sudden appearances and disappearance. 

Andrea’s Uncle Juan is married to Gloria: a beautiful young woman from a poor family whom Angustias greatly resents. Juan and Gloria have a baby boy, whose care is frequently delegated to the grandmother since Juan works odd hours at a warehouse.

Juan is highly devoted to his identity as a painter, despite being talentless. He is bitter that he cannot sell his paintings for the amount he believes they are worth, and he often takes his anger out on others in the household. He hurls accusations at his sister Angustias and bickers with his brother Román. He is also highly defensive of his mother (Andrea’s grandmother) and becomes furious whenever Gloria attempts to sell his mother’s furniture to the rag merchant despite the family’s desperate need for money.

Juan directs his anger most violently toward Gloria, beating her with increasing rage and severity over the course of the novel. Despite his terrible temper, however, the novel suggests that Juan loves Gloria deeply. He frequently uses her as a nude model for his paintings, and comes to her with tearful reconciliations, for example, in the critical moment wherein he confronts Gloria at her sister’s bar in Chapter 15.

Andrea’s Uncle Román is intelligent, eccentric, and a devoted curator of art objects. Aptly, he earns much of his money illegally smuggling goods on the black market.

Like Angustias’s room, Román’s room is a kind of haven that aesthetically separates itself from the rest of the house. He lives in an alcove filled with beautiful objects, where he often plays the violin for Andrea in the evening. He perceives Andrea as a potential audience for his music, and the novel draws many allusions to certain similarities between Andrea and Román. At the same time, despite his appreciation for art, Román has a destructive, sadistic streak, claiming he “manages” the imaginations of his family members and “rearrange[s] their nerves, their thoughts” (70).

Román is musically gifted and was once renowned as a pianist and composer. In his youth, he attended a prestigious conservatory with the mother of Andrea’s friend Ena, where, according to Ena’s mother, he was a notorious figure, enchantingly talented, yet also lazy. As a student, he was romantically involved with Ena’s mother, but behaved cruelly toward her. Similarly, in the early days of Gloria’s relationship with Juan, Román enchanted her with his music and charm, and then cruelly turned her away. The lingering romantic tension between Román and Gloria frequently stimulates Juan’s outbursts.

Román likewise arouses the romantic curiosity of Ena, who pursues a relationship with him, in part to avenge her mother, and in part because she finds him interesting. Ena ultimately deems Román a disappointment and uses her knowledge of his black market activities against him. At the end of the novel, Román commits suicide, either due to his broken heart, or because he wishes to avoid confrontation with the police, after Ena has reported on him. 

Gloria is a beautiful young woman with striking red hair and pale skin, who has a strong personality to match her intriguing appearance. She is Juan’s wife and frequently serves as his art model. Gloria is also very close with Andrea’s grandmother, who insists she is a good girl with a good heart despite Angustias’s low opinion of her.

Gloria comes from a poor family, which makes the reputation-obsessed Angustias suspicious of her. Her poor background, however, imbues her with a practical sensibility that is lacking in Juan and Román. When Juan’s paintings do not sell, Gloria earns money at her sister’s bar (supposedly through gambling, though quite possibly through prostitution as well). Unlike Juan and Román, she is also unsentimental about things, and has no qualms about selling the grandmother’s furniture so her family can eat.

Prone to fanciful storytelling, Gloria finds an audience in Andrea, and spends long hours waxing about her past with Juan and her previous troubled romance with Román. She explains that Román spent time in prison because she reported on him after he treated her poorly, and that she would report on him again if she could.

Gloria also suffers physical and verbal abuse from Juan, who projects much of his anger and frustration onto her. She continually speculates about leaving but has conflicted feelings about what might happen to her and her baby, were she to leave. She also appears to truly love her husband.

Ena is a beautiful and compelling student at the university Andrea attends. She is a strong-willed person who prizes her female friendships—including her friendship with her mother—as much as her romantic relationships with men. She also has a sadistic streak, which leads her to take pleasure in toying emotionally with her suitors.

Though Ena comes from a wealthy family, she is interested in expanding her perspective on the world and spending time with creative, artistic, and unusual people. Thus, she and Andrea quickly become close friends despite their socioeconomic differences. Ena even invites Andrea to join her and her boyfriend, Jaime, on weekly excursions to the beach.

Over time, Ena develops a complicated, mysterious relationship with Andrea’s Uncle Román. This relationship leads to some friction in their friendship. Ena eventually reveals, however, that she is dating Román as revenge on behalf of her mother, whom Román treated poorly many years ago. Her ability to maintain this duplicitous relationship confirms how little she values romance.

Ena’s mother is a delicately beautiful woman with a quiet demeanor. While attending a dinner party at Ena’s house, Andrea hears Ena’s mother playing piano and singing, struck by the haunting quality of her voice.

Ena’s mother later confides in Andrea that Ena is in a relationship with Román. She expresses great concern over this relationship, as she herself dated Román when they were both students at a music conservatory, when he was 17 and she was 16. Román used his music to enchant her before coldly and strangely punishing her for an act of love. Ena’s mother doesn’t want Ena to be hurt by him in the same way. 

Jaime is Ena’s boyfriend—the only boyfriend Ena has ever professed to love. He remains loyal to her throughout the duration of her relationship with Román. He even spies on Román and gathers information about his activities on the black market, which Ena ultimately uses against him.

Gerardo is a wealthy young man who runs into Andrea after a party at Ena’s house. He walks home with her and meets her one afternoon to walk around Barcelona. Though he offers a potential rescue from Andrea’s poverty, she resents his smug attitude and condescending airs. Andrea also receives her first kiss from him and finds it disappointing.