Musical chairs (the title of this novel) is not just a children’s game but also a metaphor for life: every time the music stops one of us loses our place and is forced to abandon the game.

Love, war, freedom, rebellion -  these large-scale, universal topics are explored through the lives of the inhabitants of a small town. Three female voices intertwine to make up the fabric of this novel. We first meet Teresa, Martiña and Eulali as children, running up and down the cobbled streets; then we meet them again as teenagers, with their dreams and disappointments; and interspersed with all these fragments we get to know them as women, meeting up every afternoon for coffee, each in her own chair.

In this, her first novel, Uxue Alberdi explores large-scale issues within a simple tale, masterfully mixing different periods and voices and exploring each character's innermost being. She turns everyday life into the theme of her story, moving beyond the epic or lyrical to embrace and combine the elegance and lightness of her own individual style.