Apparitions by Margo Glantz
Originally published in the 1990s in Margo Glantz' native Mexico, her novel Apparitions is a heady, erotic exploration of the entanglement between sex, religion and art
Margo Glantz’s Apparitions is a sensual, sensuous and sensational novel, one which challenges readers’ beliefs about sex, religion and art. There are three figures at its dark heart – a mother, her partner, and her daughter – who are involved in a complex trinity, one which is simultaneously holy and unholy, blurring the lines between the two. While the man and the mother are involved in a relationship which could be described as one of dominance and submission, the daughter is their observer, at once apart but still a part of this ménage à trois.
Told in a series of very short chapters, the distinct narrative voices are significant in that they not only show who is speaking, but why and what their role in the affair is. This is erotic fiction with a message, not explicit for its own sake, but commenting on ecstasy in a number of senses; physical, spiritual, and cultural – where desire and devotion are inextricably linked. It is about abandonment and the notion of consent, and what that means for those who give themselves over to another.
Originally published in the 1990s in Glantz’s home country of Mexico, Apparitions courted controversy on its release. Time has not dimmed its impact but Ellen Jones’ translation manages to capture a strong sense of place as well as Margo Glantz’s passionate and vivid prose. This is a novel to which you have to commit.
