The Cemetery of Untold Stories

This book seemed perfect—magical realism, writer as protagonist, lots of unfinished stories, and a cemetery setting—but it turned out to be a disappointment.The story itself is unique: Alma Cruz, a famous writer and university professor, is nearing the twilight stage of her life. Her books aren’t selling as well as they once did, she’s tired of teaching, and she hasn’t had any new ideas in a long time. Worst of all, the boxes and boxes of scribbled notes and ideas for all the books she never wrote are haunting her, and she wants them to rest in peace.She returns to her native Dominican Republic, purchases a plot of land, and builds a story cemetery. She plans to burn the boxes and bury the ashes under the particular “tombstone” her artist friend has constructed specifically for each box. Two refuse to burn: one with notes about Bienvenida, the abandoned wife of the dictator Rafael Trujillo and the other with stories of her own “Papi,” a young doctor who fought in the underground against Trujillo and escaped to the United States. Things don’t go as planned, and none of the stories will shut up. She hires a local woman, Filomena, as the cemetery caretaker, and before she knows what’s happening, Filomena becomes the confidante of the dead.A big problem I had with the book was its use of the Spanish language without explanation. Context seldom helped, so I spent almost as much time googling definitions as reading. I finally gave up. Then, too, was the slew of secondary characters who mostly all turned out to be connected in various ways. I love the idea of connectedness, but the storyline reminded me of an alternate (and endless) game of “the six degrees of Kevin Bacon.” Because I felt no real connection with any of the characters, my mind wandered as I read, and I missed the philosophical implications of whose stories get told and whose don’t.Because my overly high expectations played a big role in why the book wasn’t a hit for me, I’m being a bit generous and giving it three stars.

Lovely read

I was intrigued by title. There are some good quotes. Disappointed. Slightly boring.

Disjointed and hard to follow. A weak ending.

Wow. Strong characters. Strong writing. Seamlessly moves between timelines and families connecting one protagonist to another without a hitch.