Resumen
La aldea perdida (The Lost Village) is one of Armando Palacio Valdés’s most celebrated works, set in his native region of Asturias. The novel vividly portrays the clash between rural tradition and industrial modernization, showing how the arrival of coal mining and industrial enterprises disrupts the life of a once-peaceful mountain village.
At the center of the story is Nelo, a young man deeply tied to the land and its customs, whose life and loves are swept up in the social transformations brought by industrial progress.
Palacio Valdés contrasts the simplicity, solidarity, and natural beauty of the village with the greed, ambition, and exploitation that accompany modern industry.
The novel serves as both a nostalgic tribute to disappearing rural life and a critical reflection on social change, combining vivid landscapes, folklore, and costumbrista detail with the author’s realist style.