Stories of Cuba, the Southwest and Beyond
Teresa Dovalpage
University of New Orleans
Press
March 2012 / ISBN: 1608010767
Latin American literature
Amazon
Reviewed
by Willie Elliott
Teresa Dovalpage's The Astral Plane is a collection of
eight stories that have instances where the same characters appear
in different stories, but the stories can be read alone without
affecting the quality of any individual story.
The stories offer a look into the lives of people who live under
the influence of the rule of Fidel Castro. Even in the happiest
of moments, it seems the characters are looking to the United States
as the place that will take them out of their drudgery. But what
makes the characters so likable is the way they deal with the world
they have been handed and how they cope with it in a humorous and
entertaining way.
The reader will be captivated by the character in the title story
(The Astral Plane) with his leadership of the Brotherhood
and his knack for predicting the future.
All the characters are people who need a break in life and for
that reason readers will like them-they are not villains-just everyday
people looking for a break and in the meantime taking all the fun
and enjoyment from life as it exists at the moment. Just a list
of some of the characters will entice the reader to see what is
going on: a false prophet, a calculating serial killer, a conniving
prostitute and a scheming mother-in-law. This is a very fast and
enjoyable read.
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