Apr 02, 2019 | 224 Pages
Apr 02, 2019 | 480 Minutes
“Here are stories that blaze like wildfires, with characters who made me laugh and broke my heart, believable in everything they said and did. How tragic that American letters hasn’t met these women of the West before, women who were here before America was America. And how tragic that these working-class women haven’t seen themselves in the pages of American lit before. Thank you for honoring their lives, Kali. I welcome them and you.”—Sandra Cisneros
“Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s collection of stories, Sabrina & Corina, isn’t just good, it’s masterful storytelling. Fajardo-Anstine is a fearless writer: her women are strong and scarred witnesses of the violations of their homelands, their culture, their bodies; her plots turn and surprise, unerring and organic in their comprehensiveness; her characters break your heart, but you keep on going because you know you are in the hands of a master. (Is this really her first book?) Her stories move through the heart of darkness and illuminate it with the soul of truth. Comparisons came to mind: the Alice Munro of the high plains, the Toni Morrison of indigenous Latinas—but why compare her to anybody? She is her own unique voice, and her work will easily find a place, not just in Latinx literature, but in American literature and beyond. Can you see me? I’m giving this collection a standing ovation! Can you hear me? I’m calling out Brava! Brava! to Kali Fajardo-Anstine from a new fan and aficionada of her work.”—Julia Alvarez, author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
“A terrific collection of stories—fiercely and beautifully made.”—Joy Williams
“Kali Fajardo-Anstine writes about hard truths in women’s lives so knowingly, and with such a deft touch, I felt hyper-alert, as well as implicated and imperiled. The book is about belief, coping, yearning, and proceeding in spite of adversity (that is, the times we stay alive). The final act of the first story tells us everything we need to know about what territory we’ll be entering: In these achingly convincing stories, the writer is writing delicately, symbolically, about mortality, itself.”—Ann Beattie
“Sabrina & Corina is captivating, bold, and beautiful. There’s a world here, and you’ll feel privileged to peer inside. This is a literary debut that kicks in the door. Kali Fajardo-Anstine is a badass.”—Mat Johnson, author of Loving Day
“A powerful, passionate collection of stories centered on the experience of Latina women in the Southwest. Fajardo-Anstine’s voice is fresh and unstinting, her vision complex and bold. An important, delightful, dazzling debut.”—Alyson Hagy, author of Scribe
