Land of Smoke

For fans of magical realism, this collection of stories dazzles and twists like a dream. Gallardo, a contemporary of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has written a series of stories that ring with a poetic, thrilling edge. Gallardo brings the reader deep down into Argentina and then lifts us, sputtering, into the diaspora. Her stories prod at the question: Where does this land end? Where do its people begin? As Gallardo writes, “To emigrate does not mean to forget.”

At times reminiscent of Carmen Maria Machado, Gallardo’s collection glows with phantasms. Gallardo’s prose is magical: “She saw herself reverberating like the leaves and the houses and the monsters and the planets and the murmurs in the fountain.”

The collection begins with a short story about a captive and a monster, deep in the belly of a mountain. Dreamlike and tangible through the rocks, the fire, the ice that beats down on the mountain, the reader is shell-shocked into accepting the Land of Smoke. Other notables among this collection include a man whose house and garden is transported into the sea, a beautiful dapple-white horse who is the glory of the world, the cat who desires to be a lion, and the thirty-three wives of Emperor Blue Stone.

*With thanks to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the e-copy. All opinions are my own.

Each of these stories is shot through with magic realism, which South American writers seem to have perfected more than others. The opening story may offer an explanation -- the Spanish Conquistadors' ravaging of the existing population without regard to history or customs is presented as an allegory rooted in realism but filled with fire, ice and monsters. And maggots. Sara Gallardo has not been translated before -- a crime. Her imagery is so vivid, her mind so fertile. Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this introductory galley.

For all lovers of Marquez, this is a must-read. But even more so because this is a writer who probably got overshadowed by her world-famous Argentinian fellow writer. The stories here are beautifully-wrought and well-translated. Why it has taken so long for the English-speaking world to get these brought to us is a mystery. With this collection, Gallardo should claim her rightful place in the global pantheon of Latin American writers. And let's hope we get to see more of her work. [A complete review will be published at PopMatters and I will share the link then.]