Review of Lis Vilas Boas, “Mother Mangue,” Luna Station Quarterly 54 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Childbirth, references to infertility.
Mother Mangue is “a mother ready to help” when people are in need of help, and “when they don’t need her, she is just the witch.” The help she offers is both to bring babies into the world that are refusing to come; and to prevent others from coming when they are not wanted. Her story, a quiet one of longing and despair, takes shape when she seeks out for herself that which she has only ever given to others.
This is a long story full of many unexpected twists. It kept me curious all the way to the end.
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