A review by marywahlmeierbracciano
I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness by Irene Solà

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

For readers of K-Ming Chang, Anakana Schofield, and Olga Tokarczuk, Catalan poet Irene Solà presents a bizarre haunted house story taking place at once over the course of a single day and over four centuries. The devil is a major character, but the primary focus is on a group of eccentric women from a single family, most of whom are dead. Each woman’s story is recounted, and—in the present—no grisly detail is spared as they prepare a feast of goat to welcome the next of them. Sex, birth, and death—often obscenely juxtaposed—are major themes, and conflict in Catalonia simmers in the background.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, Pregnancy

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, War

Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Rape, Torture, Excrement, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury