Review by ASHLEY HONEYSETT
The Voice of Blood cover
The short story collection The Voice of Blood is the first book by Mexican writer Gabriela Rábago Palafox to be translated into English, 35 years after its original publication. Rábago Palafox achieved some recognition in Mexico, winning a number of awards including the prestigious Puebla prize, but was not widely recognized in her lifetime. Interviews and biographical information are limited. The blurbs on the book refer to her as “the secret ‘cool aunt’ of a few Mexican writers,” and say that her work was almost impossible to find. She wanted an international readership, which her translators say was an unorthodox ambition in Mexico, which had insular, nationalistic literary and publication traditions. They speculate that, had she lived, her star would have continued to rise. But Rábago Palafox died in 1995, at age 47.
