DNF - Althought I was eager to read this book, it didn't end up working for me in the end. I'm sure there is an audience out there who will appreciate the story for all that it holds.

Carlota Gurt's novel "Alone" is a haunting exploration of grief and the autonomous nature of bodily functions in the face of overwhelming emotion. While it took me some time to become fully invested in the story, the more I read, the more unhinged and captivating the narrative became.

Woven throughout this emotional turmoil are elements of local legends and folklore, which ultimately tie together the novel's various threads. Gurt cleverly uses these fictional elements to illustrate how such legends are born, offering insights into the protagonist's psyche and the power of storytelling.

While "Alone" tackles complex and sensitive themes, at times it feels like Gurt may be trying to juggle too much, leaving the reader slightly overwhelmed. However, her boldness in confronting these subjects is commendable, especially for a debut work.

Overall, "Alone" is a visceral and intriguing exploration of grief, madness, and the transformative nature of storytelling. It's a slow-paced journey that rewards patient readers with its depth and unique perspectives.

Mei is a 42-year-old editor who has recently been made redundant from her post at a publisher’s in Barcelona. She decides to escape to the countryside alone to find the time and space to fulfil her ambition to write a novel. She rents the house that was formerly the family home and sees this stay in the countryside as a chance to achieve something in her own right after a fairly conventional career and marriage. The house is isolated but rather than this encouraging her to write, she finds the isolation increasingly destabilising and her solitude awakens memories of the past. Slowly she begins to unravel. The tension mounts as we share in Mei’s experiences – but Mei is an unreliable narrator and just like her the reader too finds it difficult to untangle fact from fiction. The chapter headings indicate a countdown, but we can’t predict what they are counting down to. Thus it becomes an unsettling and disturbing read, but a truly compelling one, and this exploration of a mind in turmoil is convincing and moving. A great read.

Mei leaves Barcelona and rents her parents' old house where she grew up, in the middle of the forest, for a four-month writing retreat. Once there, ghosts from the past and the present start haunting Mei.

The trope of 'city woman making a new life for herself in the forest' may not be very original but is an effective device to tell a story.

I was excited about this Catalan novel, mainly because of the two publishers bringing it out: Asteroide in Spanish and Europa Editions in English.

Unfortunately these expectations weren't fully met. I felt the author was trying too hard and doing too much. Thriller elements, difficult mother-daughter relationship, mental health, love story, village gossip, tragic accident. And I also found the brutal and gritty writing style over the top. It reads very well and smoothly, but I found myself raising my eyebrows a little too often.

Wasn't sure about how I felt about this book for most of the time I spent reading it but now that I'm done I can say I did enjoy the experience. The last few chapters/pages of this book were insane. I love how intense and unhinged the protagonist was, I think she's a great representation of what it's like to grow up in an unstable, unhappy family and how that makes you an unstable, unhappy person yourself.

I can umswratand if this is the kind of book that gets mixed reviews but I also think it's a unique literary experience and you should give it a try anyway. Thank you Europa and NetGalley for approving me to read this one!

This was an absolutely fascinating read, I was thoroughly engaged with the narrator's more and more unhinged monologue, and the incredible use of nature imagery and disjointed prose created a surreal and intricate depiction of the mind of one driven over the edge.

In this poignant novel, Carlota Gurt narrates the upheaval Mei goes through after losing her job at a publishing house, when she decides to escape her childless, lukewarm marriage to live temporarily in her childhood home, surrounded by woodland, writing a novel.

As time goes by she grows more and more isolated and when tragedy strikes, a slow descent begins and Mei seems to be losing grip on humanity and becoming wilder, like the fox who occasionally visits her garden.

This was an absolutely fascinating read, I was thoroughly engaged with the narrator's more and more unhinged monologue, and the incredible use of nature imagery and disjointed prose created a surreal and intricate depiction of the mind of one driven over the edge.

This novel explores the reality of isolation and how hugely detrimental this kind of loneliness can be to the human psyche. Coupled with severe loss and grief, Gurt explores how this kind of separation from society can alter perceptions, and ultimately lead a woman to madness. I thought this was intelligently written and felt realistic, the gradual build which seemed to gain speed and momentum towards the end, a brilliant feat of writing. An easy five stars for me!

Dramatic, strong, funny, terrifying. Alone's protagonist is Mei, who returns to her hometown to write a novel, leaving behind a publishing career and a husband in Barcelona. Already dealing with the sense of impending failure on personal and professional fronts, Mei's return to her hometown also pushes her past to the fore, her troubled relationship with her mother and the house in which she grew up. Although the story begins at an enjoyable pace, leaving enough room for the possibility of a peaceful outcome, the pace picks up as the book progresses, the plot tightening as the protagonist unravels. I was left with the sense of having read it too fast, feeling the narrative fall apart around me as I was dragged in Mei's wake through the denouement.