Review: When you’re older – Miguel Gane

I was nine years old and we still lived in Romania, in a small town on the edge of the mountain. I remember the cold, the frozen clothes, the smell of firewood and the embers of the fire going out in the stove, but above all I remember the poverty. There I learned the meaning of survival, until one night in May my mother whispered some words to me that would change my life forever: “When you’re older you’ll understand why we left.” Through the eyes of a child, Miguel Gane presents us in his first novel a story that tells the drama of a family’s misery and his decisive decision to undertake a journey into the unknown. A story of overcoming and searching that reveals the reality of immigration from a vision as innocent as it is stark.

OPINION

Childhood is a fleeting moment in the life of a human being, which, however, in the eyes of each person is an entire eternity full of discoveries, small sadnesses and happy moments. «when you are older», does the same by broadly portraying the author’s already lost childhood, but above all it is a mirror for the reader by achieving with a fluid narration that when reading it is impossible not to identify with the situations, and that is that, although a large part of the novel takes place in a lost town in Romania at the beginning of the 21st century, it is still the story that could very well happen in any corner of the world.

Miguel Ganealthough he is a young author, he never ceases to surprise with his lively narrative, which with a few words directs the reader towards the feelings of a child who is trapped by the tentacles of adult reality, of the problems that come with living in the poverty and the efforts that parents have to make so that, as much as possible, their child does not suffer hardship.

«when you are older» exposes heartbreaking moments that involve being an illegal immigrant, but the author does not take advantage of that to create easy drama or expose porn misery, but rather explains it from the eyes of a child, because reality exists out there and the child can only caress part of it, it does not fully understand the situations and it makes it feel devastating not to be able to do something to change the impossible, to change reality.

Miguel Gane It manages to captivate with its narration without pretensions, without frills and with a simplicity that the reader will appreciate, also encountering tangible characters, characters that could well be their neighbors, family members or themselves, therein lies the magic of the novel; in its ease of making the reader identify.

«when you are older» is a beautiful story of family overcoming, of painful uprooting and of hope, of life itself through the eyes of an infant who in his poverty manages to find the most beautiful treasure, but also often the most despised, family and love. power that means in the face of adversity.

QUALIFICATION

Miguel Gane

Miguel Gane, named George Mihaita Gane, was born in Leresti, Romania, on July 20, 1993. He graduated in Business Administration and Law, in addition to having a master’s degree in Intellectual Property and Law. In 2018 he passed the state Bar exam; However, when letters made their way into his life, he left the profession.

He began writing poetry, managing to publish his first collection of poems, As long as I saw you fly, in 2017. After this, others would come such as Ahora que ya ya bailas and La Piel en los Lips. Gane has also been encouraged to write novels such as When You’re Older.

He has given recitals in numerous countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Mexico, in addition to having visited more than twenty Spanish cities.