A Sunny Place for Shady People
by Mariana Enríquez
A Sunny Place for Shady People is the latest short story collection by Mariana Enríquez to be published in English, in a translation by Megan McDowell, who had already translated earlier volumes by the author.
Readers
who are familiar with the style, approach and concerns of Enríquez will find
themselves in very recognisable territory. As in her earlier books, contemporary
Argentina serves as a setting to the author’s brand of weird fiction. It is a
setting haunted by societal ills, syncretic occult rituals, criminality and
violence – but also marked unexpected oases of beauty. Against this backdrop, Enríquez
reworks tropes of traditional Gothic fiction (haunted houses, uncanny children)
as well as elements of urban horror typical of scary movies and popular
culture. It is a mixture which I find very effective. However, I did get the
feeling that Enríquez has found a successful formula and keeps revisiting it. In fact, if I have a reservation about this
latest collection it’s that this volume does not really present any development
when compared to previous works by the author.
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