We Need No Wings

I read We Need No Wings (publication day September 10, 2024) by Ann Dávila Cardinal in one sitting!

Teresa, known as Tere, is a literature professor of Puerto Rican descent stuck for the last year after her beloved husband’s unexpected death, until one day, while watering his garden, she begins to levitate. Startled and bewildered by this occurrence, she decides to travel to Spain, to Avila, because she remembers that St. Teresa of Avila also had experiences of levitation and her family directly descends from St. Teresa’s family. She is even named after the saint! Maybe her cousin, who is an elderly nun, can help?

I loved the idea of levitation happening at times of great change, and Tere’s inquiry into the life of St. Teresa of Avila, and in so doing, figuring out her life as well. I loved the people she met in Spain, and how they assisted in her literal and metaphorical journey, and how Tere finally began to chart a new path for the rest of her life.

Be warned, there’s lots about the Catholic Church of the past and present, but Tere (and Dávila Cardinal) doesn’t let them off the hook.

I highly recommend it if you like books about travel, magical realism, and getting through grief. It is weight neutral–I don’t recall any explicit anti-fat bias. Thanks to NetGalley for the free e-Galley in exchange for an honest review.