Ananda Lima finds the devil beyond the details
Ananda Lima may have hesitancy outing herself as a writer but after her fiction debut, there is no doubt she has stories that need telling. Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil may be a collection of shorts but it very much reads like a novel. It may be fiction, but Lima’s tales have meta layers. A story of a writer written by a writer who hooks up with the devil and writes about ghosts, tiny humans coming out of vending machines, and writing workshop critiques.
Lima is having fun and so will the reader with this profound romp.
It’s easy to tell when the writer is having a good time. Lima is breaking all the supposed rules of writing and weaving tales filled with infectious characters, visuals, and real emotions. She has created a work that is both experimental - filled with magic and whimsy - and gut-wrenching and timely, anchored in our present-day problems. Not only is Lima freeing her writing but her characters are in on it as well. In one of the workshop critiques in Idle Hands there is mention of learning the rules of writing first before you are able to break them, seemingly cutting to the core of Lima trusting herself as a reader and writer in her own right. In Rent the characters have to smash a haunted piano to set the ghost free, they have no fear as they too break the mold and abandon doing the expected narrative.
Originally from Brazil, currently living in Chicago, Lima weaves these two perspectives into her character as she navigates belonging in two places at once, longing and loneliness, and racism. There are feelings of otherness spurned by ignorance and politics, and Lima understands and wants the reader to see the true absurdity of the times we are living in.
The Devil may not be the main character of Lima’s collection but is very much a close second. He is unexpected, nothing like what we are told, there is no evil, though a bit of mischief. He confides and cares for the writer in Lima’s stories, even offering the ultimate sacrifice without expecting anything in return. Nothing is as expected in Lima’s book, it is surprising at every page turn. The titles’ double meaning gives you a glimpse of what you are in for: the craft of writing and the craft of witchery. Both are done expertly.
In the beginning, the characters seem purposefully unsure of their choices, their lifestyles, and their place in society, but in the, end Lima’s characters are just as sure as she is that they are right where they belong. Lima leaves you wanting a bit of the Devil in your own life, whispering in your ear, edging you in the right direction, setting you free. Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil is available at your favorite bookstores and beyond.
Photo credit: Beowulf Sheehan. Book cover credit: Jamie Stafford-Hill
