This engaging novel celebrates stories—how they’re told, how they’re forgotten, and how they are uncovered, even after death.

The intriguing storyline: Alma, a famous Dominican writer and professor, retires to inherited land in the Dominican Republic, and decides to bury the remains of all the stories she never finished writing. Her groundskeeper, Filomena, has some intriguing family stories of her own. She’s also able to “hear” the stories told by the various markers.

Alma takes a backseat to the stories of Filomena, her family, and two markers, in particular. One is real-life historical figure, Bienvenida, dictator Rafael Trujillo’s second wife, whose story was erased from written history. Filomena also learns about Manuel, a doctor who has closer times to Alma’s family than we first think.

I loved each of these character’s stories. Filomena’s intrigued me the most, and Bienvenida’s life of privilege yet struggle was fascinating. I’m going to have to do some digging to see how much is true to real-life. As a fan of writing, stories, books, and reading, I really enjoyed this unique novel.

The audiobook is stellar! The same narrator who read Evelyn Hugo narrates it, and she’s terrific. It’s especially impactful to “listen” to a narrator read a novel about the power of story.

One last kudos! Gaby D’Allesandro illustrated this AMAZING book cover! It’s the perfect accompaniment for this novel.