Solitude

The simple life of mila, young and naive, abruptly ends when she is raped by anima, a friend of her husband, matias review "the seamless translation faithfully illuminates the lucid, brilliant prose of this catalan author." publishers weekly"solitude has the haunting qualities of an ancient myth of femaleness... reading the novel is like looking at a pool of water whose surface is from time to time disturbed by a breeze. one minute the writing seems miraculously clear and lucid, sensual and satisfying: then its quality changes and we are in a dreamy world of world of opaque imagery and meanings that catch the eye yet somehow can never be looked at directly." zoë fairbairns in everywoman "the most important catalan novel to appear before the spanish civil war. solitude has not previously been available in english." translation review "solitude is a gift, given to the reader to savor. " belles lettres"this catalan book's history is as fascinating as the work itself... mila's ascent to selfhood and descent from the mountains constitute the coda to this often medieval-seeming legend." ala booklist"víctor català's art resides in the inspired creation of mila and the communication of her states of mind, in her interpenetration of mood and scene whereby we are drawn into feeling with a character and sharing in the process of her own partial coming to an awareness of individuality, essentially feminine individuality." catalan writing"solitude is powerful, poetic and passionate in its story and central characters, in català's language, and in the setting the pyrenees are a kind of central characters in themselves, adding to the force of this novel." british bulletin of publications on latin america, the caribbean, portugal and spain "the novel's folk tales, with their scent of cruelty, linger in the mind, as do the icy, unforgiving vistas below... it's this sense of place that gives solitude its power." new york times book review