The Sisterhood Conspiracy of Readers

White is an unusual detective agency founded by José Antonio Marina, whose speciality is the investigation of literary mysteries that have remained obscured by history. This book narrates one of these cases: a story brought to the attention of José Antonio Marina by Carmen Martín Gaite. From 1926 until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, an association of women existed in Madrid, called the Lyceum Club Femenino, which “conspired to move Spain’s clock forwards” and which, quite possibly, was made up of the most brilliant generation of women in the history of Spain. Women like María de Maeztu, Victoria Kent and Hildegart were convinced that the turmoil provoked by ideological struggles could be overcome by education. This book is an exercise in historical justice, because these women have been forgotten before they were even recognised by history. The authors of this book present the lively story of a convulsive period of historical transformation, from which one question emerges: what if these women’s educational utopia had actually come to pass?