Asphodels

Mexican decadent Castillo (1879–1901) makes his English-language debut with this collection of 12 stories of lethal passion and whimsical macabre. Standouts include “The Right to Life,” which explores a man’s intense fear of fatherhood during his lover’s pregnancy; “What the Beggar Said,” about the deterioration of a man who’s fallen on hard times; “The Joy of Death,” in which Lady Death torments the living in order to populate an avenue of her cemetery; and “White and Red,” which is framed as the final journal entry of a prisoner awaiting execution and recalls his trial, his love of books, and his descent into depression and madness. These gemlike vignettes, elegantly translated by Sequeira, are captivating, though the period-typical misogyny will turn off some readers. Still, this will please anyone with an interest in decadence, romanticism, or 19th-century Mexican literature. (Dec.)