Memoirs of a Basque Cow

One dark and stormy night, Mo hears her Inner Voice urging her to begin writing her memoirs. Having ignored her Inner Voice's advice once before, with near-fatal consequences, she decides, this time, to do as she is told. Mo looks back on her life, beginning with the crucial moment when she met another cow, who introduced herself as La Vache qui Rit, and assured Mo that there was nothing more stupid in this world than a stupid cow. Mo spends her life trying to prove to her friend that, despite being a cow, she is not at all stupid. Besides, she has her Inner Voice and a great desire to live! Set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, in which defeated Republican supporters are still being persecuted by victorious Nationalists.

Bernardo Atxaga (born 1950) is considered to be the finest Basque writer of his generation. He has written novels, short stories, song lyrics, plays and children's literature. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and his work in euskera (Basque) and in translation has brought him many prizes, including the Premio Nacional de Narrativa, the Premio Euskadi, the Premio de la Crítica, the Prix Millepages, the Premio Valle-Inclán, and the Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation.