[On May 10, 2021 Strange Horizons officially expressed its political support for Palestinian solidarity. The views of Tangent Online reviewers are not necessarily those of Strange Horizons. Fiction critiqued at Tangent Online is, as much as is humanly possible, without prejudice and based solely on artistic merit.]

Strange Horizons, March 14, 2022

“Embroidery of a Bird’s Heart” by Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

The narrator of “Embroidery of a Bird’s Heart” by Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas is a young woman who loses her grandmother to death. The elderly woman comes back from the grave, and eventually the narrator faces her own fate.

In the tradition of magic realism, this story relates its fantastic content in a calm, matter-of-fact way. The deceased can return by subway train, and there are not many differences between the lands of the living and the dead. This is a quiet, gentle, sentimental tale, narrated in a clear and vivid style, full of sensory appeal that draws the reader into its world.

Victoria Silverwolf went to a continuing education conference last weekend and faced unexpected snow.