“Time passes like a veil that polishes your memories and makes them malleable”  

My favourite read of the year so far! This magnificent collection, eloquently translated by Laura McLoughlin, presents captivating fragments of its characters’ lives, delving into the innermost vulnerabilities of the individual, while also baring intimate truths of humanity as a whole.  

With short stories, no more than a few pages, Bel Olid pulls the reader to the brink of overwhelming tragedy but never completely over the edge; they are always salvaged by pockets of hope, moments of quiet defiance: gifted bunches of toadflax, morning coffee savoured while listening to the radio, a dip in the bluest of seas. This resilience threads itself throughout the book, bold in the face of suffering – as the narrator of ‘Cabaret’ muses, “life is stubborn and we cling to it even when it hurts to live’.  

Bearing pain, both physical and emotional, is an integral element across the collection. Almost every story is set against the backdrop of a historical conflict, from Lithuania’s Singing Revolution in ‘Dainuojanti Revoliucija’ to the worlds of Venezuela, Spain and New York drawn together in ‘Linda’. ‘Baba Luba’ takes place in Ukraine, amidst the civil unrest of 2014 and, though first published in 2016, this story’s current poignance is startlingly.  

Yet, we are continually reminded that the characters are not defined solely by their circumstances, as universal themes of loneliness, love, loss and friendship are addressed. The narratives shine a stark light on issues of gender politics, migration and social violence. Human connection in varying forms, across generations and continents, can be found at book’s core – exemplified in ‘Anna, Anne, Anna, where a young girl finds understanding in the words of Anne Frank. Often, in fact, the author focuses their lens on the young, raising questions as to how their lives will be affected by these formative experiences, marred by intense hurt, guilt or violence. We are left, however, reassured of their resilience, of the place they will carve out in an uncertain future.  

Wilder Winds is a gathering of deft, affecting narratives that are together enduring and unique. Olid’s talent for revealing whole lives through the keyhole of one particular moment is exceptional; pervading truths, some cruel, some delightful, are exposed in as little as two pages. I couldn’t phrase it any better than Marta Rojals – ‘Bel Olid tells you the most terrible things in the most beautiful way”.  

https://tinyletter.com/theindieinsider/letters/issue-19-short-and-sweet

This month’s Indie Insider theme is ‘Short and Sweet’, also featuring the minis series from Red Circle Press, Love Stories for Hectic People by Catherine McNamara and some exciting news from Peirene Press!