This is Not Miami (2023) by Fernanda Melchor

 Book Review

This is Not Miami (2023)

by Fernanda Melchor

Translated by Sophie Hughes

  I'm a fan of Mexican author Fernanda Melchor since I read the English translation of her 2017 novel, Hurricane Season, a searing and brutal book.  I'm generally in favor of ANY author whose work can be accurately described as "searing and brutal."  The fact that Melchor scores so high on the diversity index is merely a bonus in her case.   

   It's hard to put This is Not Miami in a literary category- it is not a novel.  It could be considered a book of short stories centered on the Mexican city of Veracruz.  In her foreword Melchor describes the book as being based on journalistic reportage.  Like many authors who are translated into English, This is Not Miami is not her most recent writing.  It was published in the original Spanish in 2013, with Hurricane Season coming out in 2017 and Paradais in 2021 with an English translation last year.   Like her later books, This is Not Miami is searing and brutal with highlights including the title story, about a bunch of Caribbean immigrants who find themselves marooned in Veracruz under difficult circumstances. 

  Another memorable story is the tale of local beauty queen who ends up on trial for the murder of two young children.  Reading This is Not Miami does help the reader obtain a better understanding of Fernanda Melchor and her fans, but for novices it doesn't displace Hurricane Season as the best entry point.