'White Ink' presents an analysis of the use made of five structuring devices, or motifs - the Bildungsroman, the patriarchal prison, the fairy tale, sexual politics and gender trouble -in a selection of representative women's novels from Spain and Latin America written between 1936 and the present day. A central theme of the novels studied is the demonstration of the varying ways in which patriarchy seeks to undermine the status of womanhood: focusing on the ways in whichwomen's lives are structured according to a pre-established patriarchal plan (Nada, La plaça del Diamant, Perto do coraç]o selvagem); concentrating on the ways in which men imprison women in their domestic roles (La amortajada, Album de familia, Los recuerdos del porvenir); seeking to redress the balance through a re-evaluation of the fairy tale (Primera memoria, El cuarto de atrás, El mismo mar de todos los veranos); exploring the interpenetration of genderand politics (La casa de los espíritus, Conversación al sur, L'hora violeta); or seeking to redraw the map of sexual boundaries (El gato eficaz, La nave de los locos, Temblor). STEPHEN M. HART is Professor of Spanish at the University of Kentucky.