"There is nothing in this impressive first novel to suggest that the author is a UC Berkeley PhD candidate in Latin American history. While Sylvia Sellers-García demonstrates an encyclopedic knowledge of the region's history and literature (as well as a postmodern distrust of conventional narrative), her spare, graceful prose is anything but cerebral or academic... Part folk tale, part noir mystery, part meditation on the burden of history, this is a remarkable debut." -- Sheerly Avni
