Fear

Throughout the collection, the author uses a network of narrative voices in order to explore the pervasive and controlling nature of fear. In "Angelita Unearthed," "Our Lady of the Quarry," "The Well," "Rambla Triste," "Kids Who Come Back" and "Back When We Talked to the Dead," each of the main characters encounter horrific or unexplained phenomena, the fear of which challenges how they see the world and themselves. In "Angelita Unearthed," after the narrator finds the bones, she disbelieves her grandmother's story that they belong to her dead aunt until the baby "appeared in [her] apartment ten years later" (6). With time, the narrator’s attitude toward the baby changes. While on the bus with her, the narrator remarks, “I was afraid of her at first, but I’m not anymore” (10). What once terrified her has become a fixture in her life. In "Our Lady of the...