In Félix Calvino’s Young
Love we meet Manuel as an old man, and then have the pleasure of recognising
him again in the story that follows, as a boy in love. In other stories we meet
other young people, each with their poignant love story to tell. We are
transported to another time and place, to a Galician village, perhaps about 50
years ago. We accompany the characters in their daily tasks and routines and
dance with them at weddings and festivals. The sense of place is vividly
conveyed. We are there in the school room, in the family kitchen, at gatherings
where the young learn about life and love from village hearsay, while trying to
understand their dawning feelings of love. The stories are wrapped in a
poignant sense of potential tragedy that is never spelled out: an atmosphere
that is a hallmark of all of Félix Calvino’s stories. This, as well as the
simplicity and quiet wit with which the stories are told, makes his writing
stand out as unusual and refreshing.
Anne Di Lauro