Why read By Light We Knew Our Names?

Book cover of By Light We Knew Our Names: Stories

Book description

From ghosts to pink dolphins to a fight club of young women who practice beneath the Alaskan aurora borealis, By Light We Knew Our Names examines the beauty and heartbreak of the world we live in. Across 13 stories, this collection explores the thin border between magic and grief.

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Short story collections

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Why read it?

1 author picked By Light We Knew Our Names as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jacqueline Vogtman

Author

Full disclosure: Anne is a dear friend and was an MFA workshop-mate of mine.

But even if she wasn’t, I’m confident this would still be one of my favorite collections. There is so much magic in Valente’s writing, in the gorgeous prose but also in the content of the stories: ghosts, pink dolphins, tiny librarians, Northern Lights.

Much of the magic is not supernatural, but just the magic of the natural world, and Valente is a master of place; I’ve always admired her use of setting. Many of the stories deal with loss, grief, and pain, but the magic acts…

From Jacqueline's list on magical realism by women writers.