Stone in a Landslide is a modern Catalan classic. It was first published in 1985, but is only now available in English translation. Discovering a great novella about how the Spanish Civil War tore apart the Catalan nation is an opportunity that shouldn't be ignored.

Stone in a Landslide is the story of Conxa, a young girl separated from her parents at an early age and sent to work for richer relatives. The book initially follows her in her new life as she grows from being a girl into a woman. First flirtations turn into love, and Conxa eventually marries Jaume, a poor local boy. The narrative follows her inner thoughts as her life takes these initially unremarkable turns. Then her world is turned upside-down by the coming of the Spanish Civil War and its brutality. Jaume disappears, along with many other men from the villages, and Conxa is forced to watch from afar as the conflict destroys her home and family.

The power of this slim novel is that although it is about war, war is largely absent. What we see is ordinariness and domesticity, followed by rumours of terrible events that never quite touch Conxa directly. The spilling of blood is largely out of sight, though its consequences are felt by all of the characters. The result is a book that places war, and its effects, firmly in the context of ordinary lives. Conxa is unremarkable, perhaps even a little boring, but her role as a cipher for the pain of loss is brilliantly realized.

The majority of the narrative enthralls by its very mundane nature, and the drama comes from knowing that the lives we are sharing are being shattered elsewhere. It is a powerful little book about a powerless little life, and it deserves to be appreciated by English language readers.