Stories refuse to be buried and want to be told

? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez follows the emotional narratives left unsaid. The tale is about a successful author, Alma Cruz, who achieved her long-time literary fame in the United States. Alma realizes that she’s had enough of fame and decides to head back to her homeland, The Dominican Republic, to bury her unpublished books — literally. She finds the plot of land and begins building the graveyard.

But things don’t go as planned. The characters from her stories refuse to disappear, and they begin telling their own narratives. Re-writing and revising elements of the unpublished books. A local woman, hired as the groundskeeper, becomes their sympathetic listener. Alma’s first-person narrative is pushed to the side as the trapped voices are set free.

The book is the perfect balance of somber and joyous with a mix of modern and classic tones. Julia Alvarez “swirls the elements of folklore and the flavor of magical realism around her modern prose,” according to The New York Times.

You can find it onAmazon.