Zayas's prose through a gynocentric lens. María de Zayas y Sotomayor published two volumes of novellas, Novelas amorosas y ejemplares [1637] and Desengaños amorosos [1647], which enjoyed immense popularity in her day. She has recently been reinstated as a major figure of the Spanish Golden Age. This study examines Zayas's prose through a gynocentric lens. Drawing on an extensive array of primary and secondary sources, and referring to the ideas of Irigaray, Kristeva, Cixous,Raymond and Genette, O'Brien reflects on the interactions of Zayas's women in such relationships as friendship, sisterhood, and motherhood, analyzing these interactions through the collections as a whole, and connecting the novellas with the frame stories, an aspect of Zayas's writing which has often been overlooked by critics. EAVAN O'BRIEN is a Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at Trinity College Dublin.

"With Women in the Prose of María de Zayas, Eavan O'Brien presents a remarkable, exceptionally well-researched addition to the ever-increasing María de Zayas library[...]a work that expertly draws on past research and adeptly provides new perspectives. Hers is a book that belongs in the library of any serious Zayas scholar." - HISPANIA, VOLUME 95

"Without a doubt, this book deserves the title of 'essential reference work' for those embarking on the study [of] Zayas as well as those who continue to research what is known as gynoaffectivity (affective relations between women) or gynocriticism." - IBEROAMERICANA