Book Review: "The Dangers of Smoking in Bed" by Mariana Enriquez

“The Dangers of Smoking in Bed” is the second anthology I am reading by Mariana Enriquez and though I would not say it was better than “The Things We Lost in the Fire” - I will have to say that some of the stories inside were somewhat better or just as good. Now, I have read a lot of the gothic in my time and honestly, I cannot remember reading very much of the Latin American Gothic apart from some of the themes within Isabel Allende novels. Mariana Enriquez is a fresh, astounding voice of the new world of the Latin American Gothic and deserves far more recognition than she is getting at the moment. With these anthologies under her belt, she is proving to be a great and grand force of literature that will make for classics of our own times come the future.

This anthology of short stories is not only gruesome and gory but also seems to have these strange underlying themes of what constitutes as humane. Just like in her anthology “The Things We Lost in the Fire”, Mariana Enriquez manages to capture our minds into asking the question of what is morally and ethically good and what is completely out of the question as being unethically bad. She forces us to confront the very essence of human nature: survival. We are warped into this world in which the characters are put into situations either beyond their own control or completely in their control - making the decision on whether we like them or not based upon the choices they make throughout the text. One thing I found really interesting about the characters in the text is that Mariana Enriquez seems to let the characters themselves make the decisions. It is like she is simply writing them down and based on the type of character we are reading about, none of the decisions or choices they make ever seem for a minute to be out of character. I believe that it is because these characters are so well-written that the reader is able to immerse themselves fully into the violence that unfolds within the stories.

My favourite story has to be one entitled “Our Lady of the Quarry” in which two young girls have unrequited love for a man named Diego. Diego starts going out with a girl called Sylvia and since the girls want him for themselves, a drama ensues which makes quick works of survival out of teenagers and their hormone-wrought emotions. I believe that the best thing to say is that when you hit the ending you need to stop and think about what is actually happening, no matter how gruesome or uncomfortable you think it may be. It is important to make sure you think about the ending because not only is it in-line with the younger characters and their storyline, but it is also symbolic of something. I am not going to tell you what that is because honestly, I would love for you to read this book.

In conclusion, I have to say that between a woman who is carrying around a dead baby that rots before her eyes and a group of dogs that maul people to death, a woman who is obsessed with human organs and one about being trapped within the confines of your own home, afraid and enraged at the outside world - this book seems to be the perfect accompaniment to a great stormy night, a cup of hot coffee and being tucked into your bed nice and tight because you never know what may appear at the end of it whilst you’re sleeping.