and they say

and they say is a dazzling piece of writing by contemporary galician writer susana sanches arins. suffering is a black stormcloud on a sunny day. the trouble with remembering is it can cause damage. but it  can also heal. the translator of this book, the north american professor kathleen march, suggests that and they say (seique in the original galician) is its own genre and what really matters is telling  (recovering) the truth. it is a story of betrayal, unspeakable cruelty, and the odd (breathless) act of compassion. it is the recuperation of the collective memory of the spanish civil war (1936-39) and its aftermath, when fugitives were caught and bodies thrown into ditches, when it was dangerous to answer your door at night. it is an essay that records testimonies, acknowledged and anonymous, of some of the dark nights that characterize this period of  spanish history. it is poetic (if poetry can be cruel). it is also tragic, down to the repeated appearance of the chorus, which seems to reflect on, to reinforce, the central message: memory can be painful, but it is best acknowledged, so that the mourning can take place and the survivors can move on. this book, expertly collated, is a masterpiece of writing on the spanish civil war, an essential piece in  the puzzle of those years. susana sanches arins is a high-school teacher in galicia. she is also a well-known author. the second, revised edition of seique, the one that is reproduced here in english,  was awarded the narrative prize at the fifth galician book gala in 2020. kathleen march is professor emerita of the university of maine. she has also translated some of the most respected names in galician literature: rosalía de castro, álvaro cunqueiro, anxo angueira, marica  campo and miguel anxo fernández among others.