The Best Books About Madrid: Novels, Memoirs & Guides

Looking for books about Madrid? This is a curated list of both novels set in the Spanish capital and nonfiction that brings the city to life.

Inspired by the upcoming Nomad Book Club Literary Retreat to Madrid, these are among the best books about Madrid and best books set in Madrid to give you a rich literary passport to the city.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means I earn a small commission if you choose to make a purchase using a link, but at no cost to you. I’ve included Amazon links to each recommended book as well as Everand, Spotify, and Bookshop.org where available.

---

Novels Set in Madrid

1. Winter in Madrid by C. J. Sansom

Winter in Madrid takes place in Madrid in October 1940, shortly after the end of the Spanish Civil War.

A wounded British soldier, Harry Brett, is recruited by the British Secret Service and posted to the British Embassy in Madrid where he is sent to make contact with an old school friend, Sandy Forsyth, now a shady businessman.

Meanwhile Barcelona and Madrid lie in the shadow of possible involvement in World War II and the Franco regime’s precarious neutrality.

“Funny, when I was a little boy I wanted to be good. But I could never seem to manage it somehow. And if you’re not good, the good people will throw you to the wolves. So you might as well just be bad”

Author bio:

C. J. Sansom (Christopher John Sansom) is a UK author best known for his historical thrillers. With Winter in Madrid he ventured into the lesser-told setting of post-civil-war Spain, showing his detailed historical research and interest in moral conflict.

---

2. Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner

In Leaving the Atocha Station, Adam Gordon, a young American poet, spends a year in Madrid on a prestigious fellowship ostensibly to write a long poem about literature and the Spanish Civil War.

The setting is Madrid in 2004, and the plot revolves around his alienation, self-consciousness, fumbling Spanish, relationships with Spanish women, and the impact of the 2004 Madrid bombings (though the novel’s focus remains psychological).

“I told the waiter I was looking for a hotel whose name I didn’t know on a street whose name I didn’t know and could he help me; we both laughed and he said: Aren’t we all.”

Author bio:

Ben Lerner is an American poet, essayist and novelist. Leaving the Atocha Station was his debut novel (2011) and won acclaim for its wit, intellectual charcoal and modernist sensibility.

---

3. Fortunata and Jacinta by Benito Pérez Galdós

Fortunata and Jacinta is an epic 19th-century novel is set in Madrid (mid-19th century). It tells parallel stories of two women: Fortunata, from the working class, and Jacinta, from the bourgeoisie.

Both are entangled with the same man, Juanito Santa Cruz. Their disparate social origins and shared entanglement reflect class, ambition, morality and the transformation of Madrid itself.

“Will she love me after I’m gone? Will she think of me? She just might…if only she could see that loving her husband is like throwing roses to a donkey; if only she could see it!”

Author bio:

Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920) is often considered Spain’s greatest realist novelist. His works chronicle Spanish life in the 19th century, and Fortunata and Jacinta is widely regarded as his masterpiece, deeply rooted in the Madrid he knew.

---

4. The Hive by Camilo José Cela

Translated by James Womack

The Hive is a groundbreaking 1951 novel set in Madrid in 1943, capturing the bleak and oppressive mood of Spain just a few years after the end of the Civil War.

Told through a fragmented structure of short, interconnected vignettes, the story brings together over 300 characters whose lives intersect across cafés, crowded streets, and hidden corners of the city.

The book’s critical portrayal of post-war Spain led to its ban within the country, forcing first publication in Buenos Aires.

Today, it is celebrated as a major work of 20th-century Spanish literature—an insightful and unsettling portrait of a broken nation learning to survive.

Author bio:

Camilo José Cela (1916-2002) was a Spanish novelist, poet and essayist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1989. His works often explore the complexities of Spanish society and history.

---

5. Living’s the Strange Thing by Carmen Martín Gaite

Living’s the Strange Thing follows Águeda, a 35-year-old woman in Madrid who has recently lost her mother and is struggling to keep her curiosity about life intact.

As she returns to her old, unfinished doctoral dissertation on an eighteenth-century adventurer, she confronts the emotional legacy of her mother, the complexity of her own relationships, and a restless search for meaning.

Author bio:

Carmen Martín Gaite (1925–2000) was a Spanish novelist, essayist and translator born in Salamanca and later based in Madrid. She was one of the most significant women writers of twentieth-century Spain, awarded major prizes such as the Premio Nadal and the Prince of Asturias Award.

---

6. Bad Habit by Alana S. Portero

Translated by Mara Faye Lethem

Bad Habit is set in a working-class neighbourhood of Madrid during the 1980s and early 1990s, and follows the life of a trans girl growing up in post-Franco Spain.

The narrative explores her experience of gender, identity, class, violence and sisterhood—anchored in a gritty but poetic portrayal of the city’s streets, clubs and community of outcasts.

Author bio:

Alana S. Portero (born 1978, Madrid) is a Spanish writer, poet and playwright who addresses feminism, LGBTQ+ identity and working-class life. Bad Habit (her debut novel) has brought her international recognition.

---

7. The Frozen Heart by Almudena Grandes

The Frozen Heart is a sweeping epic novel centred on two Spanish families—one Francoist and one Republican—from the Spanish Civil War to the present, with Madrid and its outskirts as a key setting.

It begins at the funeral of a wealthy patriarch in the Madrid region and unravels complex histories of survival, betrayal, love and memory.

Author bio:

Almudena Grandes (1960–2021) was a Spanish novelist born in Madrid and one of the most important contemporary voices in Spanish literature. Her work often focuses on Spain’s recent past, memory and democracy, and she received numerous awards including the National Literature Prize for Narrative.

---

8. A Working Woman by Elvira Navarro

A Working Woman (La Trabajadora) is set in Madrid’s peripheral neighbourhoods and follows Elisa, a freelance proof-reader whose job is precarious and whose life reflects the economic instability of contemporary Spain.

When she takes in a mysterious roommate, the narrative shifts into psychological territory—mixing urban alienation, obscure anxieties, and the dislocation of labour in a transforming city.

Author bio:

Elvira Navarro (born 1978, Huelva / based in Madrid) is a Spanish novelist and essayist whose work frequently explores urban peripheries, identities and precarious labour. Her novel La Trabajadora established her as a significant voice in young Spanish literature.

---

9. A Heart So White by Javier Marías

A Heart So White takes place in Madrid and opens with a wedding ceremony; from there it unravels a story of a translator whose father dies under mysterious circumstances and leaves behind a past full of secrets and silence.

The city of Madrid flickers in and out of view—as a place of memory, conversation, hidden truths and domestic tension.

“Listening is the most dangerous thing of all, listening means knowing, finding out about something and knowing what’s going on, our ears don’t have lids that can instinctively close against the words uttered, they can’t hide from what they sense they’re about to hear, it’s always too late.”

Author bio:

Javier Marías (1951-2022) was a Spanish novelist, translator and essayist widely regarded as one of the major figures in contemporary Spanish literature. His Madrid-set novels bring subtle psychological and moral complexities to the city’s landscape.

---

Memoirs & Autobiographical Books About Madrid

1. The Forging of a Rebel by Arturo Barea

Translated by Ilsa Barea

In this three-volume memoir (commonly known as La forja de un rebelde), Barea recounts his upbringing in Madrid, his early struggles, the Spanish Civil War, his work in propaganda and broadcasting and eventual exile.

The vivid scenes of Madrid life—poverty, political tension, everyday survival—make the city a central presence throughout his story.

“To write truthfully you must live, and you must feel what you are living.”

Author bio:

Arturo Barea (1897-1957) was a Spanish writer, journalist and broadcaster. His autobiographical work gives one of the most vivid English-language pictures of Madrid in the early 20th century.

---

2. The Maravillas District by Rosa Chacel

Translated by D.A. Demers

This semi-autobiographical novel (or memoir-novel hybrid) is set in the Maravillas district of Madrid in the years leading up to and during the Spanish Civil War, as experienced by the female narrator.

Author bio:

Rosa Chacel (1898-1994) was a Spanish novelist and essayist associated with the Generation of ’27. Her work often explores gender, modernity and the Spanish city—especially Madrid.

---

Non-Fiction Books About Madrid

1. Hidden Madrid by Mark & Peter Besas

A guide-style book that explores lesser-known corners, stories and visual gems of Madrid—perfect for those who want to go beyond the tourist trail and unlock the hidden character of the city.

---

2. 500 Hidden Secrets of Madrid by Anna Carin Nordin

A more contemporary guidebook style volume, but still among the best books about Madrid for readers who want to explore the city’s lesser-known corners, cafes, art-spaces and quirky spots.

---

3. A Guide to Madrid’s Literary District by Felicity Hughes

Focused on the literary culture of Madrid, A Guide to Madrid’s Literary District takes the reader through the cafés, homes, streets and cultural sites associated with major writers and literary history of the city.

---

Other Famous Writers From Madrid

While exploring books about Madrid it’s worth noting some of the major authors associated with the city:

• Miguel de Cervantes — often considered Spain’s greatest writer (though not strictly Madrid-based his legacy looms large).
• Lope de Vega — another towering figure of Spanish literature, with deep links to Madrid’s Golden Age literary culture.
• Pío Baroja — a modern Spanish novelist whose work often engages with Madrid and Spain’s socio-cultural changes.
• Others: Ernest Hemingway (who spent time in Madrid and wrote about Spain), Rubén Darío, Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Benedetti, Mario Vargas Llosa — all of whom have had significant feeds into Madrid’s literary-cosmos or Spanish literary culture more broadly, even if they were not Madrid natives.

---

More Books About Madrid

If you’re looking to dive into books about Madrid, this list offers a rich starting point—from classic realist masterpieces to contemporary urban explorations, from memoirs to guides and essays.

Whether you’re joining the Nomad Book Club Madrid Retreat or simply want to feel the city’s pulse through literature, I hope you’ll find something here to transport you to the cafés, streets, alleys and history of Spain’s capital.

If you have any further recommendations to add, please leave your suggestions in the comments below.

Pin this post for later:

---

Fantastic Books & Where to Find Them

For more of what to read where, check out my full Travel Books Guide, filled with book recommendations for different destinations, the most beautiful bookstores around the world, tips on how to get the best deals on audiobooks and e-books, as well as more literary travel.