Seven Empty Houses
First book of 2023: FIN. (To be fair, I had literally 3 pages left when I put it down yesterday. What is my problem.) Seven Empty Houses, by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell.
This short story collection was quick, fast, compelling, and totally zeroes in on the adage that “you never know what goes on behind closed doors.” That’s a bit simplistic and misleading, though, because it’s not like the stories are about some big surprising, behind-closed-door dramas, i.e. “Surprise! The ‘perfect couple’ actually hates each other.’” Boooooring.
More like: Houses are really just storage spaces for people who are vessels for all sorts of fascinatingly specific stories, thoughts, and compulsions. THAT is what this collection is about. And, honestly, that’s the best descriptor of “home” that I could come up with.
PS: Seven Empty Houses recently won the National Book Award for Translated Literature. 🎖️
originally published on instagram