10 h 52 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 52 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What remains of a man when the office that gives him purpose no longer has a place for him?
In Benito Pérez Galdós's Miau, Ramón Villaamil waits for the Treasury to take him back. Proud, experienced and without a salary, he moves from office to office, seeking help from people with influence. In a Madrid where government posts depend on favour, knowing the work is not enough.
At home, his wife Doña Pura struggles to keep the family respectable. His daughter Abelarda carries private longings, while his thoughtful grandson Luis senses the trouble around him. Their cramped household depends on Villaamil's hope. Galdós brings dark comedy and tenderness to a wait that presses on everyone.
What you’ll discover
- Pride without a salary Follow a dismissed official whose sense of worth rests on getting his post back.
- A household under pressure Enter cramped rooms where family pride and the need to look respectable deepen the strain.
- The long search for favour Walk beside Villaamil through offices and visits, where influence matters more than experience.
- A child's quiet understanding Meet Luis, whose love for his grandfather brings tenderness to the family's anxious life.
- Madrid in close detail Discover streets, cafes, clothes and speech through Galdós's sharp eye for ordinary life.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy richly drawn family stories, sharp humour about office life, nineteenth century Madrid, and characters who feel alive on every page.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A boy hears the nickname Miau
- A proud man waits for a government post
- The boy meets God in his visions
- The Miaus live on show and borrowed money
- Víctor returns with charm and a wallet
- Abelarda falls for the wrong man
- The office, the cartoon and the four letters
- What the novel is really about
- A comic voice with a tender centre
Who’s who
- Ramón VillaamilA gaunt, honest civil servant out of work, two months short of his pension, who tells himself to expect the worst.
- Luisito CadalsoA shy, thin schoolboy who runs his grandfather's errands and sees God in daydreams.
- Doña PuraVillaamil's wife, quick, vain and resourceful, who borrows money for food and relies on others for theatre tickets.
- MilagrosPura's sister, a gentle cook who once dreamed of opera stardom and still hums arias.
- AbelardaVillaamil's plain, nervous daughter, engaged to Ponce while she longs for her brother-in-law.
- Víctor CadalsoLuisito's handsome, persuasive father, a tax official who talks his way into money and promotion.
- PonceAbelarda's dull, watery-eyed fiancé, a would-be critic waiting for his uncle's inheritance.
- PantojaVillaamil's friend, a rule-bound section chief who thinks all private wealth is theft from the state.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 10 h 52 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Miau
by Benito Pérez Galdós · 1888
A schoolboy meets God in daydreams while his jobless grandfather hopes for a government post.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What does a boy do when schoolmates throw stones and meow at him in the street? Luisito Cadalso hears that his grandmother and aunts are called the Miaus.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boy hears the nickname Miau
The story opens as the pupils of a Madrid school pour into the street. A thin, shy boy named Luisito Cadalso slips away alone, and his classmates chase him and meow at him. His friend Silvestre explains the cruel joke. In the opera gallery, people call his grandmother and aunts the Miaus, because their small faces look like cats.
Luisito goes home and studies the three women. Doña Pura, her sister Milagros and her daughter Abelarda do share a small, pursed, catlike look. The boy even wonders whether he is a cat too. A kind doorkeeper's wife, Paca, feeds him buns in the entry hall and keeps him company with her dog Canelo.
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What is Miau by Galdós about?
It follows Ramón Villaamil, an honest civil servant out of work, and his family in 1878 Madrid. His grandson Luisito, his wife and her sister and daughter live on credit and pride while waiting for a government post.
Why is the book called Miau?
Miau is the cat's cry. The nickname is shouted at Luisito and given to the three women in the family because their faces look like cats. It also takes on a joking meaning for Villaamil in the ministry.
Is Miau based on a true story?
The story follows life in the Madrid ministries and the habit of seeking posts through friends. It carries the date Madrid, April 1888, and takes place a decade earlier.
The author
Benito Pérez Galdós
1843–1920 · Spanish realist novelist
Benito Pérez Galdós (1843–1920) was a Spanish novelist and playwright. He was born in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands and moved to Madrid in 1862. He wrote Marianela (1878), Fortunata and Jacinta (1886–1887), and Miau (1888), as well as the historical novel series Episodios nacionales. He died in Madrid.
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