Cemeteries have wonderful stories, and sometimes I draw inspiration from some of them for my books.
Mariana Enriquez, described by the New York Times as a “witch of horror,” has been fascinated by the captivating beauty of cemeteries since her teens. She visited them often, wandering among the tombstones, making notes of her aesthetic obsession, “where death seems more interesting than life.”But when the body of a friend's mother who disappeared during Argentina's military dictatorship was found in a mass grave, Enriquez began to examine more deeply the complex meanings of graves and the places where our bodies are buried.
In this rich book of essays - which she calls "Journeys Through Death" - Enriquez travels across North and South America, Europe, and Australia, visiting the catacombs of Paris, the old Jewish cemetery in Prague, the above-ground shrines of New Orleans, and the opulent Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires.And others. Enriquez explores each cemetery's history and architecture, its saints and ghosts, its caretakers and visitors, and, of course, its dead.
Between personal stories, reports, interviews, myths, ghost science, and more.
This book is a memoir that expresses Enriquez's passion for cemeteries, revealing aspects of her life and her unique sensibilities as much as the cemeteries and tombstones she visits.Enrique's first work of non-fiction, translated by award-winning Megan McDowell, is a captivating and awe-inspiring work like no other, as original and unforgettable as the stories and novels for which she has won so much love and admiration.
