There's love, all the time beside me, its rolling tides polishing jagged moments with surprise apologies silly jokes extra snacks and the great luck of seeing a heart switch on the light that opens a locked-down face. There are landmarks: each person I've loved each one who loved me-quirky waves we've ridden together.
Sixty years before a gaunt and deluded nobleman from La Mancha was overdosing on tales of derring-do, visiting his madness on those around him and single-handedly rewriting the rules of fiction the deeds of another heroic knight had already made literary history. Though completely eclipsed by Don Quixote, Cristalian de Espana, which was first published in 1545, has a unique claim to fame. Its 800 pages, bristling with swords, sorcerers, dragons and damsels, make up the earliest known work by a female Spanish novelist.
