Things We Lost in the Fire

This is the first taste English-language readers are getting of Argentine writer Enríquez's imaginative stories. Each piece contains an entire universe, with sparse, well-chosen details bringing to life the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, the smaller Argentine towns, and the daily existence of characters. Some begin with characters' personal problems, such as "The Neighbor's Courtyard" and "Spiderwebs," before the paranormal appears (or seems to appear). Whether these apparitions are real or the manifestations of troubled minds is unclear. Other stories, such as "End of Term" and "Adela's House," are more classic ghost stories one could imagine whispered around the campfire (e.g., "She went through the door in the wall and was never heard from again!"). There are also stories in which groups practice barbaric rituals, including "The Dirty Kid" and "Under the Black Water."