Joan Enric Barceló (Friends of the Arts) recommends a book that "unsettles the reader."

"It's a deeply emotional book, written from the heart... and the greatest favor I can do for the future reader of this book is to say nothing more," explains musician Joan Enric Barceló, of the group Els Amics de les Arts. He recommends the novel. Only rain, only earth, only mud, by Montse Albets (Mataró, 1977), a debut endorsed by the Periscopio editors' keen eye, as Jordi Nopca noted a few months ago in itNow We ReadIn fact, it is the same publishing house in which Barceló published the book of stories Dying knowing few things (2023).

Before writing the novel, Montse Albets has played different roles in the world of books: proofreader, bookseller, book club host... That is to say, she never got to Only rain, only earth, only mud out of nowhere. All of this is evident in a book that, as Barceló says, "when you start it you think it's about one thing, and instead it's about something very different." The starting point is Maria's journey to the Ca la Viuda farmhouse, and the core: perinatal grief, and the psychological and bureaucratic circumstances that condition it. "It's a nonexistent grief, because they immediately force you to return to work, in case you don't take sick leave," said Albets.

"The author is very skillful, and is capable of unsettling the reader, of placing them in a very uncomfortable position from the beginning. In addition, she mixes different points of view: a first-person voice, a third-person voice, emails... There are a series of narrative strategies at the service of the main story," Barceló, immersed in the celebration tour of the Twenty years of Els Amics de les Arts' history, which began on July 25 at Poble Espanyol from Barcelona.