Its narrative is radically polyphonic, with every chapter told from a different perspective and with those perspectives including thunderclouds, mushrooms, a roe deer, and a bear, as well as the different characters. Violence is omnipresent — it opens with a man being killed by lightning, its central threads spiral out from a fatal hunting accident, and the Spanish Civil War and even the Inquisition are not far away — but that violence is never directly described and the overall sense is of an upbeat celebration of life and renewal and compassion.

When I Sing, Mountains Dance is a haunting and memorable novel.

October 2023

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