Alba de Satigny, born c. 1953, is the biological daughter of Blanca Trueba and Pedro Tercero Garcia; she is legitimized by the marriage of her mother to Jean de Satigny prior to her birth. Throughout her early life—even into young adulthood—Alba is unaware that Pedro Tercero is her biological father. Apparently she learns this fact only after she reads about it in her grandmother's notebooks c. 1978. She never knows her legal father and only sees his corpse once he is dead, as a formality in the morgue. Alba is said to have had a lot of unfortunate hair as a baby and Trueba, her grandfather, considers her not very good looking. For this reason he desires that she obtain a first-rate education because he believes she will not secure a good marriage and thus likely will have to provide for herself. She is thus sent to an English boarding school for several years; she detests the rigid formality of the school and does not appear to internalize much of her education. Alba's childhood is spent with adults and she never experiences a typical childhood experience or view of the world. As a teenager at college she meets and falls in love with Miguel, a revolutionary Marxist who espouses violence against the state. Alba, not particularly political on her own, joins Miguel in his various political demonstrations. When the military coup occurs in the country, Alba remains with her grandfather as Miguel takes off into the country and joins guerilla fighting. Over the years, Alba loses her grandmother to death, her mother escapes into political asylum, her uncle Nicolás moves abroad, and her uncle Jaime is executed. Alba remains alone with her grandfather Trueba. She accepts his violent temper and eccentricities and he never directs his anger toward her. The two form an unlikely relationship based on love and mutual admiration. Because Alba accepts occasional secretive visits from Miguel she falls under suspicion of the Fascist military regime that has gained power through a coup. She is arrested and spends several months in prison. There, she is tortured and probably raped. In any event, she is incarcerated without clothing for lengthy periods and is subjected to definite sexual abuse. She survives only because she develops a severe infection and is sent to a prison hospital for treatment. There she recovers her strength and then is sent to a work prison from which she is released a few days later.
