We Need No Wings

April 1, 2024

Following her well-received adult debut, The Storyteller's Death, Cardinal pens a tale of magical realism. Teresa Sanchez feels lost after her retirement and the death of her husband. Then one day she levitates, inspiring her to travel to Spain to find out more about her 16th-century ancestor St. Teresa of �vila, who was known to have visions and levitate. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2024 Library Journal

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 29, 2024
Cardinal (The Storyteller’s Death) explores grief and spiritual ecstasy in this uplifting story of a woman’s new lease on life. Sixty-year-old Tere Sánchez is still in mourning a year after her husband’s death, when she begins levitating in his garden. The experience terrifies her, and she’s troubled by her lack of control when it happens again. Then she remembers her family is related to a medieval saint, Teresa of Ávila, who experienced episodes of spontaneous levitation. Tere sets out to visit her cousin Isabella, a nun in Ávila, Spain, to learn more about their ancestry. While in Spain, Tere makes a series of acquaintances who help her overcome her grief, including a homeless man named Juan, who she helps apply for college, and Roderigo Romero, the owner of a bike shop who makes a pass at her before settling for her offer of friendship. She also visits reliquaries and other sites dedicated to Saint Teresa, and though Isabella can’t explain Tere’s levitation, she offers useful insights (“The experience of levitation comes at times of great change. The best kind of change. The evolution of self”). Aided by her vibrant characters’ sense of humor, Cardinal thoroughly explores themes of mysticism and friendship. It’s an enlivening tale of second chances. Agent: Linda Camacho, Gallt & Zacker Literary.

August 1, 2024

Sixtysomething professor Teresa Sanchez is suffering, mourning her dead husband, on leave from her university in Vermont, and feeling unmoored. One day, while watering the peonies that her husband planted for her, she begins to levitate--tethered to the ground only through her hold on the garden hose. This terrifying occurrence is followed by more incidences of Teresa losing touch with the earth, until, exhausted and terrified by her flights, she is forced to make more of her family's legacy than she ever cared to before. (She is a descendant of St. Teresa, who also levitated.) Teresa decides to travel to �vila, Spain, the hometown of St. Teresa, in search of answers. There she encounters a myriad of people--her cousin, a nun; a bike shop owner; a real estate agent; and a homeless young man--all of whom help in her inquiry and in her grief. VERDICT Cardinal (The Storyteller's Death) deftly blurs the boundaries between literary and relationship fiction, crafting a novel full of magical realism that unfolds with leisurely grace as it traces a plot that is deeply engaging. Swift yet reflective, intimate yet universal, this is a novel of deep rewards.--Neal Wyatt

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2024
It's been a year since Tere's husband of more than 30 years passed away unexpectedly, and her life has stalled in a miasma of grief. Taking a leave of absence from her teaching job at a university has given her room to mourn but has also left her feeling unmoored. Then one day, the unimaginable happens: she starts levitating. Feeling untethered both emotionally and now physically, Tere decides to leave her small town in Vermont and travel to Spain to research her ancestor, Saint Teresa of Avila, who was also rumored to levitate. But as Tere delves into the saint's history, she learns more about herself than she ever imagined was possible. Newfound friendships and surprising encounters help Tere begin to reimagine what her life might look like in the future. Readers who appreciate novels that focus on found family and women of a certain age discovering new truths about themselves will enjoy this touching story of flourishing during life's second act.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.