I have been very bad at following along with #ReadTheWorld21, but I finally got my act together this month and picked up Bezoar & Other Unsettling Stories for May in Mexico! I’ve had this on my radar since I interviewed Fernanda Melchor (remember that? That was cool, you can find the interview on my blog!) and she recommended this collection. Any short stories referred to as ‘unsettling’ will instantly go on my wishlist!

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I didn’t realise, though, how tiny this collection was until it arrived! My edition is 107 pages and there are only six stories in it, translated from the Spanish by Suzanne Jill Levine.

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The three strongest stories for me were Bonsai, Petals and Bezoar. @end.notes posted her review yesterday and mentioned how Petals reminded her of Perfume by Patrick Süskind and that is ALL I could think about while reading it as well! It’s a super uncomfortable story, but I thought it was great. Then Bonsai is a peek inside a marriage in which the man sees himself and his wife in a new light after spending time with a gardener. It was weird, good weird! And finally, Bezoar, a series of diary entries as a woman documents her experience with her compulsions to her doctor. Exactly my kind of short story: dark and intimate with a razor sharp edge!

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I read this collection in one sitting and it definitely made me want to reach for more of Nettel’s work! Karen @idleutopia_reads also wrote a great review of this one a few months back - check that out!