A review by abbie_
When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Solà

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

I was super excited for this one as it’s been translated from the Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem, who translated one of favourite WIT books, Learning to Talk to Plants by Marta Orriols. My second offering from the Catalan language was poles apart in terms of content but just as brilliant! The language here is stunning, absolutely gorgeous imagery which Lethem has worked wonders with. The language and style can be quite playful at times and so I imagine it was difficult to wrangle with on a technical level, but she pulls it off.
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Funnily enough, it’s got something in common with We Are Light which I read and loved last month (which you could also read for WIT month!) - unique perspectives! In When I Sing, Mountains Dance we hear from rain clouds, mushrooms, a roe deer, a mountain, all things which draw your attention to the incredible landscape of the mountain village where this book is set.
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Interspersed with these unusual POV chapters are almost vignettes from every day life in Pyrenees. The book starts with a man being struck dead by lightening while picking mushrooms and spirals out from there. We see the knock-on effects of his death on his family, as well as their interactions with other village folk. It was fascinating to experience how tragedies affect a tiny village, where everyone knows everyone. Pretty much every chapter gives you a new perspective of someone in the village and they all felt so alive.
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I don’t think I’ll get over just how beautiful the writing was, a feat I always admire even more when that beauty is shining through in translation. Gorgeous, evocative, melancholy, definitely a recommendation from me 😍
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