Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez is a modern collection of short stories depicting the harsh realities of modern life: poverty, neglect, social injustice and crime.  These eye opening stories cannot be ignored, and will not easily be forgotten.  The author, Enriquez, puts into words, thoughts and emotions that are uncensored and real.  The fictional characters seem so realistic as they tell their stories.  It is as if the reader is looking through a journal or diary as the individual and unique accounts of harsh realities and difficult and incomprehensible  events are retold.  For example, in one story, the hero tells about the horrific story of a young boy who sleeps on the street on an old mattress with his drug using mother.  She often sees the young boy abandoned and alone.  The story depicts the true to life emotional conflicts of anger and remorse that is directed not only to the neglectful mother, but the young boy.  When she learns of the brutal death of a homeless boy she feels regret and remorse at what she should have done to save him.  She describes the intense desire to seek answers and her anger toward the neglectful mother.  The reader can peer inside the mind at the realism of the story tellers thoughts and words.  In all these stories, a world of emotions and inner conflict is opened up to show that there is not so such thing as simple emotions.  As a blogger I received a copy of this book published by Crown for the purpose of writing this review.