Summary
Summary of The Nail
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A nail raises questions about guilt
An iron nail sits at the center of The Nail, a Spanish novella by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. This small, ordinary object carries a question about guilt and the law. The case matters not just because a crime needs explaining, but because people must decide what its evidence means.
Published in the 1850s, the novella belongs to the early days of crime fiction, before the detective tale had settled into its usual shape. Its mystery brings strong feelings into contact with the responsibility of judgment.
Key idea 2
Passion meets the work of courts
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Key idea 3
Evidence can carry a mistaken story
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Key idea 4
Private passions become public facts
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Key idea 5
Justice depends on human judgment
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Key idea 6
Another person's fate requires certainty
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
Readers who like a compact mystery with a courtroom at its heart, nineteenth century Spain, travellers' tales, and a plot that keeps one clever object in view from the first chapters to the last.
What this book is
The Nail is a short crime novella by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, the Spanish writer who died in 1891. It is set in Andalusia in 1844 and told by a young lawyer named Felipe, who sees events unfold at the side of an old friend, a judge. It blends a travel sketch, a love story and a courtroom drama, and it rests on one chilling object.
You get a teller with a sense of humor, a judge who believes in duty above all, and a case built from a skull, a coffin board and a parish burial register. Along the way the book asks what the law can see and what it cannot. Let us begin on a dark road, in a stagecoach with one silent passenger.
In this summary
- 1A silent companion in the dark coachFree
- 2A judge tells of his lost love
- 3A skull pierced by an iron nail
- 4Witnesses, a warrant and what it means
Key point 1 of 4
A silent companion in the dark coach
On a stormy autumn night in 1844, Felipe climbs into the Granada to Málaga stagecoach with ticket number two. Ticket number one is somewhere in the dark, and nobody answers his greeting. He fears a snorer, a smoker or a thief, and he finally reaches out with his hands. Nothing is there, and a flash of lightning shows him that he is alone.
At the first change of horses, a young woman in mourning steps in. She is pale, elegant and very beautiful, and Felipe cannot believe his luck. In the dark she answers him with single words. By daylight she warms a little, and they share lunch at Colmenar.
Then Felipe tries a word of love, and she stops him. She says love horrifies her, because she once loved to the point of madness and was betrayed. At Málaga she will not give her name, asks him to pray for her and rides off in a private carriage. Felipe thinks he will never see her again.
That’s 1 of 4 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
What distinction does the nail bring into focus?
Right. “As you read, ask what the object proves and what it only seems to prove.”Not quite. “As you read, ask what the object proves and what it only seems to prove.”
How does the novella present those who must decide the case?
Right. “They carry doubts, habits and their own pasts into the room, and the novella lets you watch the law work through those human hands.”Not quite. “They carry doubts, habits and their own pasts into the room, and the novella lets you watch the law work through those human hands.”
What question becomes more important as the case closes in?
Right. “Notice too how often the question changes from what happened to what should be done about it.”Not quite. “Notice too how often the question changes from what happened to what should be done about it.”
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 12,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 45 min
- Listening time1 h 20 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 10 other languages
Questions about The Nail
What is The Nail by Alarcón about?
It is a short Spanish crime tale. A lawyer named Felipe meets a mysterious woman on a stagecoach, then joins a judge friend who finds a skull with an iron nail in it and sets out to catch the killer.
Is The Nail a true story?
No, it is fiction by the nineteenth century Spanish writer Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. It uses real Spanish places such as Granada, Málaga, Seville and Córdoba, and a plausible legal process, to make its crime feel believable.
Who is Joaquín Zarco in The Nail?
Zarco is an investigating judge and Felipe's friend from law school. He is devoted to duty, still hurt by a lost love in Seville, and he leads the inquiry into the skull found in the cemetery.
Is The Nail easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that it is short and moves quickly. Chapters are brief with clear titles, the narrator speaks to the reader in a lively voice, and the clues come one at a time.
What is the main message of The Nail?
The story shows how duty and feeling can pull against each other, and how fate and appearances shape lives. It asks what a person owes the law and what is owed to love.
