A review by evangeline_miller
Fish Soup by Margarita García Robayo

3.5

This collection contains one short story collection bookended by two novellas. In the first novella, “Waiting for a Hurricane,” an unnamed female protagonist's primary goal is to get out of Colombia. However, even when she spends large parts of her time in the United States (i.e., overnight stays in Miami during her time as an air hostess or in Los Angeles while visiting her brother and nephew), she is never really living in the present. She suffers from middle-class ennui, which is a recurring theme found throughout this collection. In another story, we are introduced to Titi, who is more literally trapped, as his body continues to grow around him and he can barely go outside without assistance. Overall, there is a visceral sense of discontentment and stagnation to these stories; a strong commentary on the lack of opportunity and social mobility among middle-class Colombians. While most of the protagonists are pretty "unlikable," there is something hypnotic about this collection, and I couldn't stop reading.