Electrodomésticos

Inspired, in part, by Moira McCavana’s own family history in Bilbao, these inventive short stories inhabit the Spanish Basque Country in the 50 years following the Spanish Civil War. “In Guernica, there isn’t a tree, on the outskirts of town, from whose gnarled arms dangle felt berets. The hats are not a range of colors—they are not blue, cream, maroon, brown, orange, violet, or green. The hats did not begin as buds, as specks of folded felt that uncurled as the tree developed from a sapling, and matured.” So begins the opening story of Electrodomésticos, the debut collection from Moira McCavana. In these stories, characters struggle with allegiances both political and personal, their attempts at independence coinciding with the region’s growing nationalist fervor. Exquisitely attuned to the nuances of familial and cultural history, and beautifully blending pastoral and historical sensibilities, Electrodomésticos is a stunning debut about place, language, and identity, from a promising new voice.