Stories and Secrets of an Icelandic fishing village.
Review of the English translation paperback (2018) of the Icelandic language original "Valeyrarvalsinn" (The Waltz of Valeyri) (2011)

The short story novel made up of vignettes of separate households in a smaller village or town seems like fertile ground to able to introduce a wide variety of characters in individual tales with the extra writing challenge of tying them all together into one overall story arc. However, the structure hasn't been used very often and the only classic example that comes to mind is Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio (1919).

Some recent examples that I can think of are Jon McGregor's The Reservoir Tapes (2018) and, to some degree, the continuing series of books by Elizabeth Strout that centre on the Crosby, Maine town featured in Olive Kitteridge (2008) and presumably also in Olive, Again (2019 - not yet published as of this writing).

Guðmundur Andri Thorsson sets his short story novel in the fictional Icelandic fishing village of Valeyri. The original Icelandic title described the interactions of the inhabitants as The Waltz of Valeyri but the English translation title And the Wind Sees All focuses on the observer role introduced in the first sentence.

The tie-in story arc is that village choir conductor Kata is cycling past various households on her way to the village hall where an evening concert and celebration will take place and where most of the inhabitants will sing or join in. As she passes each window, the household observes her and this is the cue for their stories to be told. Several of the stories have secrets or unresolved questions which are not answered until several stories later. The book is also structured in a cyclical manner whereby the concluding sentence of the novel can lead you back to re-reading the beginning of the book. That is actually recommended as that 1st chapter provides an answer to a question that you may not have picked up on in your first read-through, i.e. I think the book rewards re-reading. I also think that on a re-read I would write notes on the names of characters and their roles, as there where times where I was getting a bit muddled with the unfamiliar Icelandic names (which are blessedly shortened here, but still).

Overall, I enjoyed And the Wind Sees All very much and would hope to see future translations of the author. The translation team of Andrew Cauthery and Björg Árnadóttir did an excellent job as the reading flows very well.

Trivia and Links
This book was added to the fast growing List of Books with Fictional Characters Who Love Arvo Pärt. That is a side project of mine to document what I think is the rather uncanny phenomenon of references to the music of the popular real life Estonian classical composer Arvo Pärt appearing in fictional works. ( )

If you like a plot driven story, this is not for you. Kata is cycling to the village hall, wearing her polka dot dress, for the concert this evening. As she cycles down the street, she is seen by the various people in the village and each of them has a chapter in which you experience their inner thoughts, their back story or such like. It is a snap shot of a disparate group of people, some of them have quite different thoughts about the same subject or relationship. Very little is brought to resolution, very little happens in the short duration of Kata's ride, however it is all told in beautiful prose. There is a rhythm to it, a sense of time passing and feelings of longing and regret. Kata, the thread that ties the tale together, remains elusive throughout. One wors summary would be lyrical. ( )