None So Blind

In this moving and ambitious English language debut, set in present-day Spain, Gonz%C3%A1lez Sainz constructs a portrait of a man caught between tradition and modernity, and between opposing cultures. Middle-aged Felipe D%C3%ADaz Carri%C3%B3n desperately wants to have a voice in a world that silences him. When the print shop where he has worked for nearly half his life closes, Felipe decides to leave his small mountain village to find greater opportunity. His wife, Asunci%C3%B3n Garc%C3%ADa Bellido, suggests they relocate their family to the industrial city of Guip%C3%BAzcoa, in the lowlands of the Spanish Basque Country. Felipe soon finds a job working at a chemical factory and tries to settle into his new life. He has difficulty acclimating and experiences regular discrimination because he hails from a different region of Spain. However, Asun and their eldest son, Juan Jos%C3%A9 D%C3%ADaz Garc%C3%ADa (Juanjo), quickly assimilate and thrive in their urban environment, causing division amongst the family. Decades pass: Juanjo grows resentful of his father and moves to France, Asun becomes a councilwoman, and Felipe's youngest son moves to Madrid for university. Felipe accepts an early retirement package and returns to his village to live alone, hoping the journey home might let him remake his life in the wake of personal tragedies. The translation highlights Gonz%C3%A1lez Sainz's smart, symbolism-packed prose. The rich descriptions of nature often reflect the mood and motivations of the characters. This is an intelligent and understated existential novel. (Feb.)