In just four years, how much I've lost. Three pillars of my life are gone, and this book is the fruit of the collapse I've suffered, of the effort to get back on my feet. It emerged in fits and starts; I had to tear it from my very core. It has provoked in me an uncertain journey through fear, through constant insecurity, even making me doubt myself and want to give up. At the same time, and however contradictory it may seem, it has guided me through the worst of storms, a journey that has finally brought me to an unknown shore. It is also a display of courage and a declaration of intent, because I know you wouldn't have wanted me to surrender. Whatever the outcome, it's time to let it fly on its own.

 

«Our Own» stems from my curiosity about the ancestral, about the legends and stories that endure from generation to generation, about the sayings and beliefs that permeate Basque culture and how much they shaped our lives in the past. I was also drawn to this theme because I'm convinced that these kinds of feelings still drive us. Almost everyone thinks at some point about not walking under a ladder, or about the implications of crossing paths with a black cat, and countless other superstitions. To the extent that these deeply ingrained beliefs stem from an innate sense of survival, from the fear of death, of the unknown, of leaving our comfort zone, I think it's very much a current phenomenon that, without us even realizing it, guides our lives. Every step we take in one direction or another is influenced by this legacy written in our genetic memory and our upbringing.

 

Furthermore, I felt it was important to highlight the value we place on roots in the Basque Country. So much so that the place where you were born gave you your name. Life in the farmhouses unfolded under the protection of the natural environment that surrounded them—and still surrounds them—mountains, forests, and so on, influenced by the climate and the knowledge people had of that environment. The farmhouses are deeply rooted in the land that sustains the families who live in them. In «Our Own», each farmhouse has its own personality and lives and breathes alongside those who dwell under its roof.

 

I live in a small village where I can see firsthand what survives of that way of life. It has always fascinated me. When passing by a "baserri" (traditional Basque farmhouse), I couldn't, and still can't, help but admire its solidity, its size, its usually secluded location. I wonder what it would be like to live in one and depend on yourself and what the land provides. I wanted to capture that in this novel and make the reader feel as if they are right there.

 

Barbari is inspired by Zerain—in the novel, Zerain is a neighboring village—and its farmhouses exist, although their layout and the families who live in them have nothing to do with reality. Nevertheless, one can walk through Zerain and think they are in Barbari, because the essence is the same.