Saúl ante Samuel / Saul Before Samuel
Novel , 1980
Penguin Random House
Pages: 408
Saul Before Samuel (1980), considered by Juan Benet as his most personal and complete novel, stands as his masterpiece and a pinnacle of his narrative style. Set in the mythical Región with the Spanish Civil War as its backdrop, the story explores forty years of individual and collective memory through a family drama with biblical overtones.
Martín, the elder brother, has been taken prisoner by the Nationalist army, while Emilio, the younger, is forced to enlist in its ranks to save him from execution. Caught between fraternal loyalty and the oppressive weight of fate, Emilio also engages in a forbidden relationship with his sister-in-law, a liaison witnessed uncomfortably by his cousin Simón. With complex and powerful prose, Benet weaves a profound reflection on guilt, desire, rivalry, and the moral devastation that war imprints on those who endure it.