La rampa

Carmen de Burgos (Almería, 1867 – Madrid, 1932), though chronologically a member of the Generation of '98, stands out for her progressivism and modernity. As a journalist, author, translator, and pioneering feminist intellectual, de Burgos was one of the most widely read writers of her time. Her extensive oeuvre includes 12 full-length novels and approximately 57 novellas.

La rampa (The Ramp), published in 1917, is Carmen de Burgos's second full-length novel, dedicated to "that multitude of helpless and disoriented women who have come to me, asking what path they could take, and who have made me feel their tragedy." This urban novel is essential for understanding early 20th-century Madrid from a female perspective, revealing how modernity, while offering some new possibilities for middle and upper-class women, proved a hollow promise for many urban working-class women.

The metaphor of the "ramp" in the title is ingeniously ambiguous. It literally refers to the city's streets and figuratively to the trajectory of Isabel's life—a descent into poverty and humiliation ("Iba de prisa, empujada fatalmente por la rampa de su vida"). Yet, the novel also captures the thrill of living in modern Madrid, the new freedoms, and the promise of economic independence for the "New Woman."

This critical edition, prepared by Susan Larson, includes a comprehensive introduction exploring Carmen de Burgos's life and work, and the urban development of Madrid between 1890 and 1920. It immerses the reader in a historical context vital for a full appreciation of the novel.

La rampa is an indispensable text for courses in 20th-century Spanish Literature, Urban Studies, Social Naturalism, and Women's and Gender Studies, offering a unique literary window into the social transformations and challenges faced by Spanish women in a rapidly modernizing capital.