Our Lady of the Artichokes and Other Portuguese-American Stories

Vaz’s collection of beautifully written short stories are steeped in tragedy and religious mysticism. In the title story, Isabel Serpa and her aunt Connie need a miracle to combat their landlord’s rent increase; the solution might be a virgin sighting among the artichokes in the yard, but 17-year-old Isabel is skeptical of her aunt’s plan: “all prayers were requests for immediate action, and no one was willing to sit inside any mystery.” In another, a mother’s 17 years of grief become a compulsive, ever-expanding art exhibit in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: “I take up half a wall with space reserved for many years more... it’s impossible for me to stop.” Another finds a gambler using ill-gotten funds to purchase his daughter a spectacular cape for the Portuguese Holy Ghost Festival, hoping to attract a Hollywood talent scout but also to relieve her of the all-consuming grief she holds for her deceased grandfather. Vaz is a soulful writer who understands her protagonists’ complex lives, as well as the way religious beliefs can assert themselves most powerfully after leaving native soil. (Oct.)