When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Sola
Genre: Literary Fiction Setting: Pyrenees Mountains Release: 2019
All their stories are lies. Listen to me. All the stories they tell. The ones that say we are evil. Lies. The ones that say we are good and beautiful as silver and that all men become mesmerized and throw themselves into the pools. Lies.
When I Sing, Mountains Dance is a pure lyrical celebration of rock, soil, water, death and life. Not just life anywhere, but in an area of the Pyrenees that is presented like an amphitheatre through which our Catalonian characters pass and on which our narrative skips through time and perspective.
Plot is less consequential here but the stories told are presented as layers of mountain rock kissed by streams and rivers so that they blend into the decades. Their common traumas and glories are their shared place in this, at times, brutal Catalonian heaven. This commonality is not overplayed by Solà. Each narrative is it's own piece of and great effort has gone into effortless yet precise, impactful storytelling. Inescapable is the scar of civil war and it seems Solà wishes to keep the wound fresh so that some pain continues to be felt. To remember it happened and fear it's return.
"Oriol is never the same thing. When he makes love he's a silent thing that knows how to caress. A whole man and good company. But sometimes, after making love, he's a broken man who wants to talk about the thieves who entered his home and, about the hole in his head.
"I imagined there would be nothing I would like less than chapters narrated by roe deer, lightening and black chanterelle mushrooms. But, Solà somehow achieves the impossible - personified accounts lacking gimmick, rich in prose sprinkled with grace, rather than dipped in sugar.
At it's heart, When I Sing, Mountains Dance is a tribute to Solà's heritage and, at a guess, to her childhood. The novel appears deeply personal but Solà exposes her scars without sacrificing her dignity. This gorgeous book will not be for all of you but if you like to take a risk and can go with the flow, there is gold to be found in them mountains
When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Sola