Night at the Fiestas

Night at the Fiestas is Kirstin Valdez Quade’s masterpiece of a short story collection.  Each chapter in the book visits a different family in the New Mexico desert and showcases their family ties and traditions.  These stories are full of reckoning for sins of the past and hope for the future.  This is a book without a true main character, but allows the reader to feel as if they are getting a glimpse into the lives of an entire community.

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I give Night at the Fiestas 3 out of 5 stars.  This book reminded me of No Country for Old Men both in setting and in structure.  I’m finding that collections of short stories are not my wheelhouse.  I had trouble connecting with some of these characters, but others were so clear to me.  I would love to see the author expound on some of these stories and develop them into standalone books.  However, several of these stories were the kind I would prefer to forget immediately.  This is not the kind of book I would actively recommend to my friends – there was just too much here I couldn’t get behind.

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Given topics of physical violence and mental illness, along with substance abuse, this book would be best directed to audiences over 16.  If you are looking for a book that does not shy away from taboo topics and traditions common to the American Southwest, this is the book for you.  This was also a really quick read – the short story chapters were so quick!  However, if you are a reader who prefers a common theme or main character throughout, this book does not fit that bill.

I chose Night at the Fiestas for the US States Reading Challenge prompt “New Mexico”.  This is another award-winning work and it’s been talked about in several of my book clubs.  While I only gave it 3 out of 5 stars, I know a lot of readers who enjoyed this so well they would have given it the full 5.  If you’ve read this one, I’d love to get your feedback, too.  Drop it in the comments below!

 

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What I’m Reading

• Current print book: Spirit Crossing, William Kent Krueger
• Current audio book: America’s Founding Women, Cassandra Good (The Great Courses on Audible)
• Book I’m most looking forward to: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Fredrik Backman