Susana Sanchez Arins: And They Say

The trouble with remembering is it can cause damage, but it can also heal. With those words Kathleen March, English translator of And They Say (Seique in the original Galician), suggests the books 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 poetic. It is also tragic. Memory can be painful, but it is best acknowledged, so that the mourning can take place and the survivors can move on. The book is a masterpiece of writing on the Spanish Civil War, an essential piece in the puzzle of those years. 

Susana Sánchez Arins is a high-school teacher in Galicia. She is also a well-known author. The second revised edition of Seique was awarded the narrative prize at the Fifth Galician Book Gala in 2020.