Book Review: Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin

As I write this, I am sitting in a friend's apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I'll be in Argentina for an entire month, and as I noted in THIS post, one of my reading strategies is to choose a theme -- for January, I decided that my theme would be Argentinian fiction. 

Please note: links may be affiliate links in nature. Your purchases through these links may result in small commissions for me at no extra cost to you. Thank you in advance! Book links are to Bookshop.org.

At the start of January, I chose four books:

• Thus Were Their Faces by Silvina Ocampo
• Trafalgar by Angelica Gorodischer
• The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezon Camara
• Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin

(I tried to include the accent symbols in the author names, but my computer and/or Blogger wouldn't cooperate!)

The first book I finished is the short story collection, Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin -- winner of the National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2022. Not only did this book fit my theme, but by being short stories, I also felt like I was accomplishing some reading goals with every short story that I finished which, in turn, helped to keep me reading. 

Schweblin's book is seven short stories in which something is missing or lost or fading away. Each of them is deeply rooted in realism with an edge that cozies right up next to magical realism. Magical realism is deeply rooted in Latin American literature and deeply tied to Argentinean literature specifically, primarily starting in the 1940s. 

The short stories in this collection are at times disorienting -- one centers on a woman and her incredibly lonely descent into dementia. Another focuses on a young girl who finds herself alone amidst a family emergency and a meeting with someone that feels at once sinister and exhilarating. Another involves possible ghosts. Then, there are the choices made -- or not made -- between spouses that leads to a sense of loss.

Each story feels complete in and of itself, but each also is dark and somewhat mysterious without falling into the magical aspects of magical realism. Most of the stories feel highly modern, though a couple could be set across a few time frames from the last 100 or so years. 

These are truly stories of loss and emptiness, as suggested by the collection title. According to the reading app, The StoryGraph, my reading preferences are typically reflective, emotional, sad, and dark -- Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin, definitely fits with these unconscious preferences, particularly the story about the woman with dementia. I highly recommend this collection!

What are you reading? Is it part of a larger theme that you've chosen? Share in a comment!