“[Guelfenbein] charms and subverts with her polyphonic puzzle.” —Booklist
“In this kaleidoscopic novel of loves, longings, and disappearances, Carla Guelfenbein brilliantly enfolds mysteries that distances of time and space strive to conceal. It’s a bonus that her writing sparkles. I know of no other nonnative writer since Federico García Lorca who has seen Manhattan with such original precision.” —Todd Gitlin, author of The Sixties
“Friends go missing, lovers are separated, yet Carla Guelfenbein, a writer with a fierce and tender imagination, makes this novel all about presence: the insistent presence of the past, the presence of possibility and hope. Every point of absence generates probing thought and fervent emotions. Guelfenbein has filled her canvas with mesmerizing, intricate life, leaving no blank spaces.” —Joanna Scott, author of The Manikin and Various Antidotes
“In One in Me I Never Loved, Carla Guelfenbein’s stories delicately unravel the mysteries and secrets in the lives of women looking for love and hiding out in the big city. A fascinating study of loneliness and connection.” —Marisel Vera, author of The Taste of Sugar
“A mesmerizing novel that explores women’s quest for identity as well as independence. Using the character of Gabriela Mistral and her companion Doris Dana as the centerpiece, these stories are intertwined with grace and passion. An extraordinary book and a delight to read for its inquisitive nature and audacious perspective.” —Marjorie Agosín, recipient of the Gabriela Mistral Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement
Praise for In the Distance with You:
“A marvelous, multi-faceted feat of storytelling.” —BBC Culture
“A stunningly constructed narrative…As absorbing as any mystery.” —Library Journal, Best Books of the Year
“This luminous and eloquent novel will appeal in particular to readers with an interest in Latin American literature.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Fans of literary fiction will enjoy this atmospheric Chilean mystery.” —BookRiot
“The subject of this profound and intricate novel is the irreducible mystery at the core of every person, the buried lines of history and desire that render us inscrutable even to ourselves. Carla Guelfenbein is an important and powerful writer, and this translation is a gift to English-language readers.” —Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You
“Guelfenbein’s elegantly structured, psychologically astute novel moves with the urgency of a detective novel, but its real mysteries turn on questions of authorship, reading, interpretation, and the strange power of fiction to enter the speechless realm of human erotic desire.” —Siri Hustvedt, author of The Blazing World
“Three figures gather around the comatose body of a legendary Latin American writer, trying—in different ways and before it’s too late—to unveil the dying woman’s secrets. With In the Distance with You, Carla Guelfenbein has created a truly thrilling book about books, a novel about the spell great writers cast on either side of the grave.” —Benjamin Moser, author of Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector
