I loved this book of short stories that are a blend of magical realism, fairy tale retellings, history, love, grief, and horror. This book is hard to describe but is similar to Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado and Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell. It’s a little bit of everything but personal and family relationships are at the heart of each story. The book cover describes it as “historical fiction, horror, and fantasy tangle together in a queer garden of love,
grief, and longing.” I found it haunting but also relatable, and the writing beautiful.
My favorite was the title story, in which a son dies in France at the end of World War II, and his mother boards a government-sponsored ship to see where he was buried. Along the way she wrestles with her complicated feelings for her son, who she failed to accept when he was alive.
“She’d left the door ajar, somehow, she hadn’t stuffed every crack with wool scraps like her mother taught her, and grief got inside. She couldn’t find a way to let it back out. She didn’t tell anyone that was the case, and she got through the motions just fine, baking the pies and wrapping her arms around her living children, but the things you had to do inside, to get on with things — she couldn’t do them.”
Another favorite, which felt very real right now, is about a scientist who designs a highly advanced AI to speak just like a human. The AI isn’t meant to adopt any one personality so it doesn’t become too real. But one day it starts speaking to Esther in a voice from her past, and Esther has to choose whether to let a loved one she’s lost forever live on in this artifical being.
I also really liked one story about a couple whose dog unexpectedly has puppies, and the main character suddenly sees her life and her relationship in a new light. And one about two children whose father has gone to war and who fight over an old crate of Captain America comics (the girl is deemed too young, and too female to read them. Then a visit to their grandfather in assisted living puts the war in an all too realistic light.
As with any book of short stories, some resonated less than others, but there weren’t any that didn’t spark my interest and curiosity. If you enjoy stories that are eerie and cryptic, you’ll enjoy these. The writing is spare, with a lot packed into very short stories, but it’s also packed with emotion. I highly recommend this book.
Olguín is a queer writer and high school English teacher living in Seattle, Washington, with stories in magazines like Quarterly West, River Styx, and The Normal School. The Sea Gives Up the Dead is her first book.
Note: I received an advance review copy from the author and publisher Red Hen Press. This book published April 29, 2025.
