Mecha Iturbe, published in Buenos Aires in 1906, is the most ambitious and longest of Cesar Duayen's five novels about the transformation of Argentina into a contemporary state in the early part of the 20th century. Cesar Duayen, pseudonym of Emma de la Barra (1861-1947), was the author of Argentina's best seller, Stella of 1905, and Mecha Iturbe, too, was greeted with great excitement. A record number of copies were printed, and the author was paid an unprecedented amount. There were many editions, but none has been available in recent years. In Mecha Iturbe, elements of national reform and...

The 20th century's first Argentine best seller was Cesar Duayen's novel Stella of 1905. "Cesar Duayen" was quickly revealed to be Emma de la Barra (1861-1947), who besides founding the first professional school for women in Argentina, the national Red Cross, and a model factory workers' community, published five extraordinarily sucessful novels about Argentine society in the early part of the century. It was a time of economic anxiety and eagerness to redefine the responsibilities of citizens, both men and women, in this new era of rapid technological change and shifting global relationships....