Cahokia Jazz: Francis Spufford

Review by Kristine GouldingPublished by Faber & Faber, 2023, 496 pages. Francis Spufford’s Cahokia Jazz is an exceptional alternate history that transports readers to a reimagined 1920s America. In this version of the past, Cahokia—a thriving city built around the real-life Cahokia Mounds near a village called St. Louis—has replaced New York as the cultural …

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The Cemetery of Untold Stories: Julia Alvarez

Published by Charco Press, 2024, 265 pages. “As usual, she stops at El Barón’s tomb, to pay her respects, making the sign of the cross, then laying her fingers on the glass. The touch sets the flakes flying. A voice commences recounting its stories, other voices join in, more and more, as if blown by …

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No One Prayed Over Their Graves: Khaled Khalifa

Translated from Arabic by Leri Price.Published by Faber, 2023, 404 pages. Original version published in 2019. January 1907. A flood wipes out the village of Hosh Hanna, near Aleppo, leaving only two survivors. At the time, Hanna Gregoros—who had built this village—is away with his friend Zakariya Bayazidi. They return home to total devastation: Hanna’s …

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