Storyteller's Death
International Latino Book Award Gold Medal Winner!
"A beautiful book about family, memories, and the power of stories." --BuzzFeed
"Mystical, masterful storytelling." --Ms. Magazine
A gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican woman who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.
There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family's house when Isla was a child...
Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.
When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.
At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.
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Ann Dávila Cardinal is a two-time International Latino Book Award winning novelist and aging tattooed punk. Her first young adult horror novel, Five Midnights, was released in 2019, its sequel, Category Five, in 2020, and her horror rom-com, Breakup From Hell, in January of 2023. Her adult debut, the novel The Storyteller's Death, was released by Sourcebooks in 2022, and her next magical realist adult novel, We Need No Wings, will be coming on September 10, 2024. Ann's middle grade and nonfiction debut, Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny, releases on September 3, 2024, and her young adult horror comedy, You've Awoken Her, in summer 2025.
Five Midnights won an AudioFile Earphones Award, an International Latino Book Award (2020), and was a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award. Category Five was a finalist for the 2021 International Latino Book Award. The Storyteller's Death was a finalist for the Vermont Book Award and won gold in the popular fiction category of the International Latino Book Awards, 2023.
Her stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Our Shadows Have Claws (2022), Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology (2022), Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic (2020); and the forthcoming alternate World War II horror anthology, Combat Monsters.
A stunning, magic-infused tale of family ties and secrets....Cardinal's storytelling prowess shines in this beautifully imagined and multilayered story, as do her fully developed characters. Fans of sweeping family sagas will enjoy every page. -- Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
Wonderfully rich and layered. The multilayered twists intertwining Isla's more traditional coming-of-age journey with her discovery that she comes from a long line of cuentistas, or storytellers who experience visions, is well handled and evenly balanced. -- Paste Magazine
A combination of magical realism, terror, and mystery, all wrapped in a shroud of family secrets and dubious honor...Toni Morrison fans will particularly enjoy the otherworld-tinged drama. -- First Clue
If it's mystical, masterful storytelling you crave this month, you'll want to pick up award-winning writer Cardinal's latest, which explores themes of loss, blessings, ancestry and mystery. -- Ms. Magazine
So compelling, unique, and lyrically written, and everything about it was fabulous - the characters, the vivid setting, and the creative storyline. I felt like I visited Puerto Rico. -- The Buzz magazines
Ann Dávila Cardinal writes with the razored clarity of a surgeon, the spare and evocative beauty of a poet, and the immensely compelling passion of a natural born storyteller. I will gratefully read anything she writes! -- Andre Dubus III, New York Times bestselling author of House of Sand and Fog
In Ann Dávila Cardinal's The Storyteller's Death, nothing can stop the cuentistas in the Sánchez family from telling their stories, not even death. I found myself captivated by the young Isla Sánchez and enthralled by the secrets of Isla's ancestors. Like the Sánchez family, Cardinal is a gifted cuentista and The Storyteller's Death is a welcome addition to Puerto Rican storytelling. -- Marisel Vera, author of The Taste of Sugar
Ann Dávila Cardinal is back to captivate us with The Storyteller's Death, a striking novel about secrets so restless they're dangerous. Isla, the book's spirited protagonist, will endear herself to all of those who have stumbled upon those terrible truths that make our beloved families that much more complicated, flawed, and human. -- Rigoberto González, author and literary critic
Both haunting and touching...a rich, compelling tale perfect for spooky season. With the turn of each page, you peel back more layers of Isa's history while discovering more of Cardinal's masterful storytelling...a must-add to your October reading list. -- Apartment Therapy
This is a beautiful book about family, memories, and the power of stories. -- BuzzFeed
For fans of family sagas, magical realism, and mystery. -- BookRiot
A great read for fans of stories set in the Caribbean and tales of magic, love, and family. -- Booklist, STARRED review
