Institut Ramon LLull

Punsoda offers a tale of a(n) - impossible – return to her childhood country; a region in mainland Catalonia dug so deep into the countryside it seems unreachable. Our narrator has bought a ruin for a house there and goes on to explain the logistical challenges of moving with a husband and children while discussing life outside of the capital, the passing of time, maternity, the country’s spiritual drift, and the need to find a place of resistance. As such, the biography opens up to include arguments on land management, capitalist exploitation, the clash between globalisation and millennial clocktowers, or the dangers that a drought-afflicted landscape – the hard lands – may awaken in an inexperienced eye and a restless soul. Here is a reflection on the identity woven by family and society written in concise and poignant prose and offering enlightening passages.