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Ann Dávila Cardinal

Biography

Ann Dávila Cardinal

Ann Dávila Cardinal is a novelist and Director of Recruitment for Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA). She has a B.A. in Latino Studies from Norwich University, an M.A. in sociology from UI&U, and an MFA in Writing from VCFA. She also helped create VCFA’s winter MFA in Writing residency in Puerto Rico. She comes from a long line of Puerto Rican writers.

Ann Dávila Cardinal

Books by Ann Dávila Cardinal

We Need No Wings
by Ann Dávila Cardinal - Fiction, Magical Realism, Women's Fiction

When Tere Sanchez’s husband dies unexpectedly, she finds herself completely broken. Taking a leave from the university where she works, Tere hopes that she can mourn her husband and get back on her feet, but instead she spends a year consumed by grief. Until the day she levitates. Suddenly, Tere's life is thrown into disarray, and the repeated incidents of levitation not only make her question her sanity, but also put her in danger. She decides she will do anything to stop them. So when she's reminded that her family is related to renowned levitating mystic Saint Teresa of Avila, she leaves the refuge of her home and travels to Spain, hoping to find answers. But Saints can be elusive, and not all answers are easily found.

The Storyteller's Death
by Ann Dávila Cardinal - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Magical Realism, Mystery, Women's Fiction

Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage. When Isla turns 18, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her. At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.