*Cinco horas con Mario* es una novela del escritor español Miguel Delibes publicada en 1966, en la que recrea la sociedad española de la década de los años 50. La trama gira en torno a las vivencias de Carmen "Menchu" Sotillo con su recién fallecido esposo. Carmen acaba de quedarse viuda de su marido Mario. Se encuentra en el velatorio de su esposo, mientras familiares y conocidos se acercan a lamentar su pérdida. Cuando todos se marchan, Carmen, durante las cinco horas siguientes, comienza un monólogo dirigiéndose a Mario como si estuviera vivo.
Miguel Delibes Setién (17 October 1920 – 12 March 2010) was a Spanish novelist, journalist and newspaper editor associated with the Generation of '36 movement. From 1975 until his death, he was a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, where he occupied letter "e" seat. Educated in commerce, he began his career as a cartoonist and columnist. He later became the editor for the regional newspaper *El Norte de Castilla* before gradually devoting himself exclusively to writing novels.
He was a connoisseur of the flora and fauna of Castile and was passionate about hunting and the countryside. These were common themes in his writing, and he often wrote from the perspective of a city-dweller who remained connected with the rural world.
He was one of the leading figures of post-Civil War Spanish literature, winning numerous literary prizes. Several of his works have been adapted into plays or have been turned into films, winning awards at the Cannes Film Festival among others. He has been ranked with Heinrich Böll and Graham Greene as one of the most prominent Catholic writers of the second half of the twentieth century.
He was deeply affected by the death of his wife in 1974. In 1998 he was diagnosed with colon cancer, from which he never fully recovered. He died in 2010.
Most prominent works include *La sombra del ciprés es alargada* (1947), *El camino* (1950), *Mi idolatrado hijo Sisí* (1953), *Diario de un cazador* (1955), *La hoja roja* (1959), *Las ratas* (1962), *Cinco horas con Mario* (1966), *La mortaja* (1970), *El príncipe destronado* (1973), *El disputado voto del señor Cayo* (1978), *Los santos inocentes* (1982), *377A, Madera de héroe* (1987), *Señora de rojo sobre fondo gris* (1991), or *El hereje* (1998).
