When I Sing, Mountains Dance

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Irene Solà Saez, Mara Faye Lethem: When I Sing, Mountains Dance (2022, Granta Books)

English language

Published Dec. 14, 2022 by Granta Books.

ISBN:
978-1-78378-714-2
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(1 review)

2 editions

A stunning novel

When I Sing, Mountains Dance is such a stunning novel. I really had no idea what to expect from Irene Solà's writing and soon found myself utterly captivated. Centering on multiple generations of one Pyrenees family, the story is much more than simply a historical saga although that is its heart. Solà switches narrators between members of the family, neighbours and friends, animals and even the Pyrenees mountain range itself which sounds bizarre, but works beautifully to give a novel that is easily as much about its remote location as it is about its characters. Having, over the past decade, spent several winters in Catalonia I could empathise with elements such as emotional reactions at the sight of the dramatic Canigó mountain top, and remember walking dusty hill paths under scented pine trees.

Each chapter is written in the first person, frequently with a kind of stream-of-consciousness flow which might …

Subjects

  • Romance languages