3/5 stars
We Need No Wings, by Ann Dávila Cardinal (2024)
Magical realism done quite well.
Tere (short for Teresa), a Puerto Rican-American woman living in Vermont, has spent the past year in her secluded home, mourning the sudden death of her husband. She is on leave from her job as a college professor, and spends her days isolated and depressed. Her son and his family live too far to see on a regular basis, but it's clear that he worries about her a great deal. One day, while standing outside in her husband's beloved garden, she begins to levitate. At first she thinks maybe she's starting to go a bit crazy, but it begins happening frequently. She vaguely remembers learning about a Saint that her family is, purportedly, descended from - Saint Teresa de Avila (her namesake), who, incidentally, experienced levitation. She calls her aunt in PR, learning more about her family's origins in Avila, Spain, and subsequently decides she must travel to Spain to help her understand what's happening to her.
It's a story of spirituality and mysticism, pilgrimage, grief, trauma, and recovery. In Spain, she makes new friends and meets distant relatives, all of whom help her on her path of self-discovery. Each chapter begins with a passage from the Saint's writings (she wrote an autobiography and two books in the mid-1500s) which often mirror the emotions that Tere is muddling through. And while she starts her journey quite literally adrift, the reader travels with her as she gains confidence and strength, and learns to cope with loss, bringing her feet back down to firm ground.
It was a sweet and empowering story, even if it is a little mawkish.
UP NEXT: What Moves the Dead and What Feasts at Night, by T. Kingfisher
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