BOOKS FROM SPAINWhen I Sing, Mountains Dance
by Irene Solà
Tags:
Set in Spain
Female author
Description:
Sol?'s vivid and magical tale, winner of the European Union Prize, brings to life a small Pyrenees village. The story begins when a farmer is killed by a lightning strike during a storm, leaving his wife, Si?, a widowed mother to a daughter, Mia, and a two-month-old son, Hilari. When Mia grows up, she falls in love with Jaume, the son of "Giants," who are stigmatized for their size as well as lack of education and rough manner. After Jaume accidentally kills Hilari in a hunting accident, he's jailed while he awaits his trial for murder, and Mia is left alone to live her life in the mountains with her dog. Woven throughout are the voices of a roe deer, witches, a bear ("tremble in fear, men who killed us"), and Mia's dog. The mountains are heard from as well, alongside geological sketches, creating a multilayered and lush array of perspectives ("My slumber is so deep that it slips beneath the seas," says a mountain). In language at turns poetic and stark, Sol? offers a fresh and mythic work that fully reckons with the beauty and savagery of a landscape.
Reviews:
(7 months ago) |
24 Feb, 2025
I’ve never read anything nearly as poetic and beautiful as this book about how life works. It’s set in the northern mountains of Spain, where the people live with the rain and the trees and the animals. It’s magical. A real treat.
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(7 months ago) |
13 Mar, 2025
This was so beautiful - the prose exquisite!
‘Mother came with a tongue that was hot like memories’
Loved the multiple points of view that give a wonderful feel of place and setting - especially the natural elements - the rain, mushrooms, ghosts, mountain and animals. So many perspectives of the same mountains.
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