“The Cemetery of Untold Stories,” written as Alvarez was going through a health crisis, grapples with the prospect of work left unfinished.
Julia Alvarez, 74, has been thinking a lot about what it means to be an elder. In her latest novel, “,” the central character — a celebrated Dominican American author, like her creator — regards her literary reputation with skepticism: “The glow of celebrity now tinged with nostalgia might keep the fan fires going, but Alma didn’t want anyone’s condescension or pity. The time had come to stop beating herself up for not being able to finish anything.
I’m struck by the way you describe having to work in this more limited, very careful way. Was that a big change from the way you’ve typically written? Of course, I do wonder — I’ve had a lot of flak, especially when she was alive, from my mother. I used to joke that I think every Latina of my generation could start their novel: “Mami told me to keep my mouth shut about this.” A woman wasn’t supposed to have a public voice or bring up certain tricky, sensitive issues.
She also gives that material to Pepito, this younger writer on an academic fellowship, which isn’t going so well, and who really wants her papers. I was so intrigued by this character, because you could have made him this figure of fun, or an interloper, but you didn’t. How did you think about this young writer in relation to the older one?Well, Pepito is tenure track and really sweating about getting this book out and making it acceptable.
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