First Love & Look for My Obituary: Two Novellas are described as having “clarity of style” and “understated eloquence” which focuses on the theme of love. This is not my usual reading material, but that's the great thing for me about this blogging hobby- I often am introduced to new things that I wouldn't normally try.
Elena Garro was one of the most important figures in Mexican literature even though only a handful of her work has been translated into English. She was formerly married to Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz.
The first novella, First Love, explores the fragile relationship that builds between a young mother and her daughter with German prisoners of war in Paris. The social conventions and world circumstances that keep the characters apart are saddening in this deceptively simple tragedy.
The second part is far more surreal and more my style. Reading like a like Bunuel film, it also deals with the barriers that keep true love apart, this time a man in a loveless arranged marriage is spellbound by a mysterious lady he finds by the side of the road.
But what do you think?