Night at the Fiestas is a collection of remarkably beautiful short stories by Kirsten Valdez Quade. Set in New Mexico against the backdrop of hot wind, green chile and festivals, the ten stories delve into complex family relations and issues of class, race and violence. In her debut Valdez Quade portrays lives in the Santa Fe area across the decades. All her characters of different age, gender and social status face moral dilemmas at one point or another, which they have to resolve.

In the title story the adolescent Frances rides on the bus which her father drives to the Fiestas in Santa Fe. She has high expectations of the night, including dreams of exciting sex, but will they be fulfilled? After flirting with an artist and finding money Frances gets lost in the frenzied crowd and has to face the several alternatives open to her.

Nemecia in the opening story of the collection is about Maria, a woman looking back on her youth with her cousin. Nemecia, long gone from the village and traditional life, still manages to raise conflicting emotions in her cousin. This story of jealousy and betrayal, compassion and hope leaves us uneasy about our own life’s choices.

Valdez Quade has the gift of truly entering into the private skin of her characters, cutting razor sharp into deep inner quarrels and motivations, but she does so with compassion. Her style is taut, rich in imagery and ironic, her shifts in time perspective skilful and her characters are vibrantly alive. She leaves us with uncomfortable recognition after the open endings of her stories. A debut worthy of a Dutch translation.