Mariana Enriquez - A Sunny Place For Shady People (Granta, 2024) ****

What a wonderful book! So well written, so real and human in its starting situation, so supernatural in its always surprising plot ending. In this collection of twelve short stories, Mariana Enriquez tells us about the lives of ordinary people, usually women who are confronted with everyday problems or issues, but they always come with a twist. Her stories are realistic, and often it's hard to tell whether the supernatural events that take place are literally true or whether they are just imagined by the protagonists who are pushed beyond the limit of their rational powers. 

The supernatural is eery, but not always malicious. It's a presence, or even just the possibility of a presence. In one story an obese girl gets dumped by her parents in their motherland Argentina - where almost all the stories take place - with her aunt and cousin who are the main characters. The obese girl gets literally touched by ghosts who manage to sexually satisfy her. The imprints of their hands are visible on her skin: "If only you could see it: there are fingers that press her body. There are hands that squeeze her breasts! Invisible hands!"

Yet the style of writing is very direct, very concrete, situational, with a tone of voice by the narrator that is often sarcastic and even cynical, commenting and judging about other people, about injustice and lack of understanding. The "horror" or "ghost stories" description of her art should not a deterrent not to read her work. These are not fantasy novels or horror stories in the traditional sense. 

It's really well written, entertaining and surprising. That's all we hope for!