The Ant : Delia del Carril, the avant-garde artist who married Pablo Neruda /

Sáez, director of the Pablo Neruda Foundation, debuts in English with a comprehensive biography of artist and leftist Delia del Carril (1884--1989). Carril was born into a wealthy Argentine family, and her bold personality led her into the bohemian circles of modernist Paris and Civil War--era Madrid. She's best known for her influence on Neruda, her second husband, whom she met when she was 50 and he was a 30-year-old poet still developing his artistic and political persona. Sáez pays homage to his subject--called "the Ant" for her energy, which carried her past her 100th birthday--as a historical force of her own, a lifelong Communist Party loyalist, a talented artist, and a charmer who combined an eccentric absentmindedness with wit in motivating others. While rigously researched and considered, this will leave readers looking for a nuanced treatment of Neruda's involvement with Stalin wanting. Still, Saez weaves a vivid tale of inheritance, bohemian enclaves, and armed struggle in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Readers looking for a rich blend of art and politics should give this a look. (May)