The Accidentals by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey, is a deceptively spooky book. Clothed in the classic ‘international klein’ blue of all Fitzcarraldo Editions, the blurb advertised ‘eight short stories about individuals who found the ordinary courses of their lives disrupted by an unexpected event and are pushed into unfamiliar terrain’. These stories became more and more unnerving as the book developed, creating one of the most beguiling and cohesive collections of short stories I have encountered. Beginning with a simple tale of a girl who finds her estranged uncle in a hospital bed, you soon begin to realise that there is always something unsaid: nothing is quite right.
Nettel is a Mexican author who has won Spanish-Language awards like the Premio de Narrativa Breve Ribera del Duero, which has the largest monetary prize for any short story collection in the world, and the Premio Herralde, as well as being longlisted for the Three Percent Best Translated Book and being a finalist for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Furthermore, her most recent novel, Still Born, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2023. This impressive background makes perfect sense upon reading The Accidentals: it is an expertly crafted narrative spanning across stories, worlds and people.
Beginning simply enough, the eight short stories grow progressively darker, ranging from a hospital encounter to a sweet shop with disturbing powers to a re-imagination of a pandemic lockdown, where isolation and control are used by a corrupt government to quash protests and political opposition by the people. This final story truly stuck with me due to its immediacy and haunting parallels to the Covid-19 pandemic, but even without a real-world point of reference the story feels just a little to believable to be shaken off. Nettel plays fast and loose with reality, with some stories played straight and others taking liberties, such as a sweet shop where eating a sweet will quite literally change your life. This assists in the unnerving nature of the narrative, where such events are accepted with hardly a second thought, mirroring the way in which the protagonists of these tales acknowledge and learn to live with the strange occurrences turning their lives into something new. The title comes from the term for an albatross strayed off course and alone in an unfamiliar environment not meant for them. This is a sharp and poignant metaphor for the characters, who seem to be trying to do the best they can in circumstances that are so strange and upsetting. Sometimes only a few pages long, these stories felt like glimpses into the lives of people who were experiencing something unforgettable.
A curious and unsettling read, this new publication from Fitzcarraldo Editions is perfect for fans of Mariana Enriquez and other authors exploring the Southern Gothic.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
