M A R G O T   V E R S T E E G .   Propuestas para (re)construir una nación. El teatro de  Emilia Pardo Bazán. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue UP, 2019. xi, 312pp.    I  concur  wholeheartedly  with  David  Gies,  who  is  quoted  on  the  cover  of  Propuestas  para  (re)construir  una  nación:    This  is  a  terrific  book.    And  I  would add    a necessary one. It is hard to believe that we have not here-tofore  had  a  book-length  analysis  of  Emilia  Pardo  Bazán  s  theater.  Margot  Versteeg  s  study  is  exhaustive,  covering  even  plays  existing  only  in  fragmentary form. The seven chapters are arranged chronologically, each  covering one or several plays. Versteeg especially points to the variety of  genres  that  Pardo  Bazán  employed  in  her  playwriting,  often  combining  several  genres      melodrama,  symbolism,  comedia  and/or  vanguard  techniques.  For  example,  she  notes  the  manipulation  of  melodrama  in  Cuesta abajo (1906). Pardo Bazán  s plays (those that were staged) were not  necessarily box office successes. However, thanks to Versteeg  s thoughtful   811 readings that interweave possible influences from a host of better-known  playwrights  such  as  José  Echegaray,  Benito  Pérez  Galdós,  Henrik  Ibsen,   mile  Zola,  Maurice  Maeterlinck,  Gabriele  D  Annunzio,  Carlos  Reyles,  or  Narcís  Oller,  we  can  appreciate  the  richness  and  depth  of  Pardo  Bazán  s  theatrical  art.  Her  plays  are  often  rebuttals  of  masculinist  points  of  view  evident in these male authors   works, making her body of theater a major  contribution to feminist playwriting.   To  support  her  subtle  analyses,  Versteeg  judiciously  employs  ideas  from literary and social theorists such as Edward Said, Michel de Certeau,  Homi  Bhabha,  Pierre  Bourdieu,  Stuart  Hall,  Benedict  Anderson,  and  Luce  Irigaray, among others. In addition, Versteeg is thoroughly conversant with  the  vast  bibliography  on  Pardo  Bazán  and  on  Spanish  nationalism.  Here  nationalism  means  not  only  Spanish  nationalism  but  also  Galician  nationalism, which was on the rise at the turn of the twentieth century when  Emilia  Pardo  Bazán  penned  most  of  her  plays.  One  has  to  wonder  why  several  of  Spain  s  great  turn-of-the  century  writers      Galdós,  Clarín,  Unamuno, Azorín    turned to theater mostly toward the end of their careers.  Galdós  penned  a  few  early  plays  in  the  1860s-1870s,  but  his  best-known  theatrical works    Realidad, La loca de la casa, Voluntad    are from the 1890s.  Clarín produced only Teresa in 1895, although Rafael Altamira believed that  theater was his true calling. Unamuno is an exception; he wrote a few plays  in  the  late  1890s  and  playwriting  was  interspersed  throughout  the  remainder of his career, but most intensely in the 1920s. Azorín produced  La  fuerza  del  amor  in  1901,  but  the  remainder  of  his  theatrical  work  was  written between 1926 and 1945.   Versteeg  s premise is that Pardo Bazán  s theater places her alongside  Generation  of    98  writers  such  as  Unamuno  and  Azorín,  given  her  plays    concern  with  Spanish  national  degeneration.  Pardo  Bazán,  however,  interweaves  feminist  concerns  into  her  plays,  something  missing  in  the  theater of male Generation of   98 writers. Social class is another important  dimension  of  Pardo  Bazán  s  theatrical  production  on  which  Versteeg  focuses.  For  example,  in  the  early  play  Verdad  (1906)  social  class  is  represented in modes of dress. Upon reading Versteeg  s analysis of Verdad,  a  play  that  did  have  a  limited  run  on  a  Madrid  stage,  I  could  not  help  wondering if feminist Carmen de Burgos had seen that play as several of her  better-known novelettes, most notably La flor de la playa (1920), center on  clothing and social class. It is possible that Pardo Bazán  s feminist messages  in her plays had greater impact than has been thought.  Versteeg also demonstrates how Pardo Bazán  s command of the canon  of  Spanish  literature  provides  her  with  intertextual  material  such  as  the  echoes  of  La  Celestina  and  Don  Quixote  de  la  Mancha  in  Juventud  (1909).  Versteeg  s book includes an expansive bibliography and useful appendices   812 of  Pardo  Bazán  s  theatrical  works  and  of  articles  by  her.  As  I  remarked  earlier, few of Pardo Bazán  s plays were ever staged, nor are they likely to  be  at  this  point.  Thus,  we  are  fortunate  to  have  Versteeg  s  thorough  and  provocative readings that reveal a complex playwright whom we already  loved for her abilities as a consummate novelist and storyteller.    ROBERTA JOHNSON   University of Kansas/UCLA