In Julia Alvarez's spellbinding new novel, the lines between the living and the buried blur as two remarkable women become custodians of forgotten tales. At its heart are Alma, a cemetery curator in the Dominican Republic who buries her unfinished manuscripts beneath the soil, and Filomena, a groundskeeper whose supernatural ability to hear these interred stories transforms her into their unlikely voice. Their parallel journeys unfold across two worlds, from the sun-soaked Caribbean to the bustling streets of New York City, with Spanish phrases weaving through the narrative like threads of gold in a tapestry.

Drawing deeply from the Americas' rich tradition of magical realism, Alvarez transforms buried stories into living forces that shape both their tellers and listeners. Through this supernatural lens, she poses profound questions about whose narratives deserve preservation and how untold stories echo through generations—whether preserved in print or passed down through whispered secrets and folklore. It's a masterful exploration of memory, legacy, and the persistent power of stories that refuse to remain silent.