Imma Monsó

All happy families are alike, except at Christmas, when each of the in-laws makes them unhappy in their own way.

When each year draws to a close, Rita indulges herself in an inconfessable dream that she zealously nourishes but never dares to realise: to spend Christmas Eve alone in her Barcelona flat, in her pajamas, eating chips and reading by the radiator. However, every Christmas Eve, for more than fifty years, she has spent this time surrounded by her family in a house in the Aran Valley, where she prepares dinner for everyone – as early as November she even loses sleep over her careful planning – and blames herself for her inability to put her wishes before family tradition.

This time Rita has made the firm resolution that it will be her last Christmas Eve celebration and to keep to it she has this important announcement to make to her family. But she is not the only one with New Year's resolutions. Other family members, such as her happy and fortunate brother-in-law, have momentous changes to announce that will disrupt the family harmony and Rita's yearnings for emancipation.

Illustrated by Ignasi Font.