Books: “The Cemetery of Untold Stories” by Julia Alvarez

These days, seems like everyone claims to be a “storyteller.” But they’d better step aside and make room for the genuine article: Dominican-American novelist Julia Alvarez.

The central idea behind this clever novel, “The Cemetery of Untold Stories,” is that Alma, the protagonist, an accomplished novelist ready to retire, has started so many stories which she never finished, she decides to physically bury her manuscripts.

But where? And how? Turns out Alma and her three sisters are set to divide pieces of land in the Dominican Republic from their late father. Alma inexplicably chooses the lot next to a garbage dump. She plans to erect a mausoleum on the site, complete with sculpture next to which she can dump the boxes of unfinished manuscripts.

But Alma can’t accomplish the task alone. And while the locals who help build the new edifice are hoping it will eventually provide job opportunities for many of them, she hires only one person, Filomena, to serve as groundskeeper.

Filo may not know how to read or write but she knows how to listen. That’s important because as this very humble woman approaches the burial site of a particular story, the story’s characters speak to her. And only to her.

“Bienvenida” for example tells the story of how she was once the beloved wife of El Jefe (aka Trujillo, the Dominican dictator)—that is, until she can’t produce an heir. “Manuel Cruz” is a dissident who flees to the United States, and who it turns out has a secret connection to Alma.

“Cemetery” is an excellent example of magical realism, a genre of literature that mixes fact and fantasy. If you’ve read “100 Years of Solitude”, you may know what I’m talking about—and you may find this novel even more irresistible. As President Obama once told her in 2013: “Your accomplishments have enriched our lives and reveal something about ourselves and about our selves.”

Right on, POTUS. And bravo, Julia Alvarez, storyteller. As Marvin Gaye once sang, ain’t nothing like the real thing.

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