Sunday was the first anniversary of the lockdown due to coronavirus. The city of Barcelona was left alone, dim, and empty. I have always liked life in Barcelona and consider the neighborhoods in the city emblematic. Eixample is one of them and walking though it is something I always enjoyed and by reading Berta Jardí’s novel SABER ESTAR, published by Univers, I have been able to feel the Eixample that I like so much.
 
The novel is a great walk through the current Barcelona, a walk from the perspective of its main character a typical bourgeois of Eixample, a lady who reflects on her surrounding, her reality and on the city which used to be hers and is increasingly unknown. She walks and reflects on her personal relations, the siege of tourist and her relationship with her children. She will also remember her husband, deceased some years ago. A lady who is extinguishing. The clash between the past and the present through a very special perspective.
 
A novel with Barcelona as the background and character, from the bourgeois Eixample to the more popular areas. A portrait of Barcelona in the past and a reflection on Barcelona today.
 
Berta Jardí is a fine author who knows how to create wonderful characters and an evocative portrait of our city and its changes. A short and intense novel which will please the general public and will leave a good taste in their mouths.