Amid the oppressive heat, and in the aftermath of the exuberance of Seville's Expo '92, Marina spends a chaotic summer with her grandmother while her mother receives hospital treatment for a grave but unnamed illness. There are no rules--swearing, talking about lovers, eating treats and staying up late are all allowed, and it is a summer with endless possibilities.

Marina still plays with dolls, but also watches pornographic movies and fantasises about sex and violence. And as she faces the challenging transition to adolescence, she is torn between the safe world of childhood and the sexual feelings that obsess her.

In Oldladyvoice, debut author Elisa Victoria presents a fresh and vivid take on growing up, through the eyes of a funny, perceptive and endearing narrator.

'As a general rule, I am opposed to fiction written from the perspective of a child. It's not that I'm uninterested in childhood as a concept, or even in children themselves - far from it - but some writers use childhood as a lazy shortcut, an easy way to introduce such broad themes as "innocence lost." . . . Happily, the Spanish writer Elisa Victoria's debut novel, Oldladyvoice (translated by Charlotte Whittle), is the exact opposite of this. . . Childhood makes a lot more sense when you remember that children are basically madcap little degenerates, fascinated by their own filth, and I love that Victoria isn't shy about portraying this.' Phrasebook