A Sunny Place for Shady People

Stories

De: Mariana Enriquez, Megan McDowell

Narrado por: Lee Osorio, Annette Amelia Oliveira, Sol Madariaga, Maria Liatis

A diabolical collection of stories featuring achingly human characters whose lives intertwine with ghosts, goblins, and the macabre, by “Buenos Aires’s sorceress of horror” (Samanta Schweblin, The New York Times)

“Entertaining, political and exquisitely gruesome, these stories summon terror against the backdrop of everyday horrors. . . . A queen of horror delivers more delightfully twisted stories.”—Los Angeles Times

“As vivid and essential as Kafka’s tales.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, TIME, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY, THE TELEGRAPH, ELECTRIC LIT, PASTE, LATINA MEDIA

On the shores of this river, all the birds that fly, drink, perch on branches, and disturb siestas with the demonic squawking of the possessed—all those birds were once women.

Welcome to Argentina and the fascinating, frightening, fantastical imagination of Mariana Enriquez. In twelve spellbinding new stories, Enriquez writes about ordinary people, especially women, whose lives turn inside out when they encounter terror, the surreal, and the supernatural. A neighborhood nuisanced by ghosts, a family whose faces melt away, a faded hotel haunted by a girl who dissolved in the water tank on the roof, a riverbank populated by birds that used to be women—these and other tales illuminate the shadows of contemporary life, where the line between good and evil no longer exists.

Lyrical and hypnotic, heart-stopping and deeply moving, Enriquez’s stories never fail to enthrall, entertain, and leave us shaken. Translated by the award-winning Megan McDowell, A Sunny Place for Shady People showcases Enriquez’s unique blend of the literary and the horrific, and underscores why Kazuo Ishiguro, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, calls her “the most exciting discovery I’ve made in fiction for some time.”

©2024 Mariana Enriquez (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Horror that illuminates humanity’s true monsters . . . Enriquez indicts our worst offensives in twelve haunting new stories.”—The New York Times Book Review

“[A] goddess of grotesque tales.”—The Guardian

“One hell of a read . . . The collection is poignant, seething, and hypnotic—taking the reader down a dark corridor—with seductive prose luring us to the end of a pitch-black hallway with no escape. . . . Megan McDowell’s translation hits such elevated emotional registers that the prose sings on the page.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It’s…fine

Downloaded this because I loved the characters, lore, and world building of “Our Share of Night”. Compared to that, this felt more like a thought exercise. A number of short stories - some haunting but most falling slightly short for me. Her short story Face of Disgrace was excellent.

Really effective collection!

Just finished this! It’s not my favorite from Mariana Enriquez—that’s most definitely the near-perfect THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE—but this has some really great stories in it. I was especially impressed with the body horror of “Face of Disgrace” and the terrific atmosphere in “A Local Artist.” Definitely recommend.

Unexpected thoughtfulness

scary, weird, sometimes beautiful. Many different layers to these short stories. I thoroughly lost myself.

Poor all around & Refunded

The first story was interesting but the rest of the stories are not good. The voice actors are not good either and their cadence is sooo off making bad writing even more insufferable. Had to refund bc it felt like I was burning money.

Random but not scary or intriguing

None of the stories really captivated me me or made me want to go on. I just wanted to hurry up and finish it but not because I enjoyed it. I did appreciate the folk lore attempt and the sense of family. Not for me.

just no

None of these stories made sense. possibly lost in translation from a different language