Hasta Que Empieza a Brillar / Until It Begins to Shine [Spanish]

EL GANADOR DEL PREMIO ALFAGUARA VUELVE A LA NOVELA CON LA VIDA DE MAR A MOLINER EN EL 125 ANIVERSARIO DE SU NACIMIENTO

«Mar a Moliner hizo una proeza con muy pocos precedentes: escribi sola, en su casa, con su propia mano, el diccionario m s completo, til y divertido de la lengua castellana . --Gabriel Garc a M rquez

«Andr s Neuman nos revela la literatura que habita en un diccionario y en la vida de su creadora, acerc ndonos a un personaje fabuloso y haci ndole justicia a una rebelde en tiempos oscuros, tan sutil como radical . --Jazmina Barrera

Solemos identificar a Mar a Moliner con su diccionario, «el m s completo, til y divertido de la lengua castellana , seg n Garc a M rquez. Pero por qu se sent a escribirlo a los cincuenta a os, en plena dictadura franquista? C mo pudo completar, pr cticamente sola, el diccionario de autora m s importante de todos los tiempos?

Hasta que empieza a brillar cuenta la historia ntima de Mar a Moliner, partiendo de una atractiva premisa literaria: narrar de cuerpo entero a la protagonista a trav s de su v nculo con la lengua. A la vez, nos propone una sugerente hip tesis: y si su diccionario fuese tambi n una suerte de autobiograf a oculta?

Esta es la vida novelada de una figura apasionante, retratada desde una infancia dif cil hasta un final insospechado, pasando por su extraordinaria labor como bibliotecaria en la Rep blica o su pol mica candidatura a la Real Academia. Entre la investigaci n y la imaginaci n, combinando la comedia, el drama familiar y la tragedia colectiva, se abre paso la historia de una resistencia secreta. Un acto de justicia con el legado de una mujer que vivi a contracorriente y explor las palabras hasta que empezaron a brillar.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

THE WINNER OF THE ALFAGUARA PRIZE BRINGS US THIS NOVEL ABOUT THE LIFE OF MAR A MOLINER ON THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF HER BIRTH.

"Mar a Moliner accomplished a nearly unprecedented feat: Writing alone, at home, by hand, she produced the most complete, useful and entertaining dictionary of the Spanish language." - Gabriel Garc a M rquez

"Andr s Neuman reveals the literary aspects of Moliner's dictionary and the life of its creator, introducing us to an extraodinary human being who dared to rebel in dark times in subtle but radical ways." -Jazmina Barrera

When we think of Mar a Moliner, it's usually of her dictionary, "the most complete, useful and entertaining in the Spanish language," as Garc a M rquez described it. But why, at the age of 50, did she decide to write it, at the height of the Franco dictatorship? How did she manage to complete such a daunting task practically on her own?

Until It Begins to Shine is a fictionalized version of Mar a Moliner's life told from a unique perspective: her fascination with language. It also poses an intriguing hypothesis: What if the dictionary were also a type of coded autobiography of its author?

The novel traces Moliner's extraordinary life, from her difficult childhood through her important work as a librarian under the Republic and controversial nomination to Spain's Royal Academy. A blend of research and imagination, comedy, family drama and collective tragedy, it is the story of clandestine resistance, an attempt to do justice to the legacy of a woman who went against the tide and explored the power of words until she made them shine.