Recently I went on a trip to the beautiful Catalan town of Cadaqués in the North-East of Spain. I like to read fiction from different countries that I'm visiting and while my husband drove us around the region I read aloud to him the entirety of Irene Sola's dark and surreal new novel. This is the story of a farmhouse named Mas Clavell nestled in the remote mountains where a woman lies dying. She's surrounded by members of her family, mostly women, who are living and dead. The novel moves in sections throughout the day from dawn to night during which the rhapsodic narrative describes the house, its surroundings and the twisted tale of this family's history.
Ever since the family's matriarch made a deal with the devil to get a husband the subsequent generations have been cursed and are born missing either a physical part of their body or some essential aspect of their personality. The story flits between accounts of their history and fantastic/dark/farcical tales the women tell each other about the region. These lean heavily into the grotesque describing battles between good and evil, wild beasts of the forests and their hunters and wars fought in this country. Time seems to bend and blend within this household so that this sordid history is occurring in a loop while the women butcher a goat to create a feast (the preparation of which is described in stomach-churning detail.) Though this is an intense novel which is not for the feint of heart it's also darkly mesmerising. As Sola incorporates local legends and folklore into her narrative while focusing on the precarious position of women, this book would comfortably share a shelf with the work of Angela Carter and Ottessa Moshfegh.
One of the most conflicted members of the family is Margarida who is highly religious and prays for the absolution of her family but finds herself drawn down into the pits of hell in a scene so grotesque it feels reminiscent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Yet whether the women of this family side with the light or dark the novel shows how they are often used and abused by men in their desire to retain power and occupy the house. The bond the women share in their storytelling, housework and vigilance over one another is their true strength. Of course, there are also arguments, jealousy and betrayals as these spirited personalities all jostle for space. The story ponders the meaning of familial and national inheritance and how we reconcile the hand we’ve been dealt. While this book is suffused with repugnant descriptions it's often so over the top that it becomes wickedly hilarious. As I read it to my husband we frequently laughed aloud while also wincing and marvelling at the wondrous scenes Sola created. It's a twisted and curious tale enhanced by walking amongst the misshapen rock structures we marvelled at while hiking through the Cap de Creus National Park.
