Read by Inés del Castillo, Frankie Corzo, and Carolina Hoyos

A breathtaking debut collection of interrelated stories suffused with magical realism In stories that evoke the haunting beauty and loneliness of New England beaches, Sofia T. Romero blurs the lines between life and death, reality and fantasy. A deceased woman counsels her son's fiancée on how to be a good wife to him, with disastrous consequences. A mysterious, commanding cat appears in a young woman's home, as inexplicable as the demise of her years-long relationship with her boyfriend. At turns humorous, sorrowful, and whimsical, this collection spans the familiar setting of a college town supermarket to eerie dystopias that are not just post-pandemic but post-art. Romero masterfully conveys the follies of youth and the regrets of life, and a sense of loss-of a relationship, a child, a time before-pervades each page. With this remarkable debut, Romero joins the ranks of writers such as Brenda Peynado and Marytza K. Rubio, offering a superb collection of speculative fiction with a distinctly Latina perspective. We Have Always Been Who We Are is at its heart a testament to the power and richness of storytelling. "The spare, muscular prose of newcomer Sofia Romero brings to mind the best parts of Hemingway, though her characters, unlike his, journey inward, through complex emotional truths that belie the minimalist language used to tell them. These are deceptively quiet stories that grow louder the longer they sit inside you. Stories that leave a fragrance behind, in your skin. Stories whose urgency lies in the haunting understatedness with which they're told. Romero's voice is clean, strong and unique, and one that deserves to be heard."

Mode of access: World Wide Web