Recollections of Things to Come

<p>This remarkable first novel depicts life in the small Mexican town of Ixtepec during the grim days of the Revolution. The town tells its own story against a variegated background of political change religious persecution and social unrest. Elena Garro who has also won a high reputation as a playwright is a masterly storyteller. Although her plot is dramatically intense and suspenseful the novel does not depend for its effectiveness on narrative continuity. It is a book of episodes one that leaves the reader with a series of vivid impressions. The colors are bright the smells pungent the many characters clearly drawn in a few bold strokes. Octavio Paz the distinguished poet and critic has written that it is truly an extraordinnary work one of the most perfect creations in contemporary Latin American literature.</p>