Stillbird

by: Sandra Shwayder Sanchez

Published by: The Wessex Collective

Reviewed by Mayra Calvani

(This review first appeared in The Bloomsbury Review--edited here for space)

Sandra Shwayder Sanchez's literary Stillbird is a strangely powerful novel whose haunting, almost surreal images, lyrical, dream-like prose and complexity will challenge the most sophisticated reader.

The three parts focus on specific characters, locations and timelines, with dark connections. Bizarrely an 1880's event culminates tragically in 1960's Denver.

In Part One, the reader encounters a lovely Indian woman named Stillbird, a name she gave herself. A young window, Stillbird has to deal with her brother-in-law Abel, whose obsessive love for her impels him to rape her.

With a keen understanding of human motivations, Sanchez offers the reader a chilly portrayal of the twisted psychology of love, stripping her characters raw. Abel worships Stillbird but with her serene indifference, his love gradually turns to violence. One evening, after an incident involving their son, Abel, for the first time, slaps her hard on the face and discovers something with catastrophic consequences.

In Part Two, the reader meets John Banks, an odd, comical figure with a preacher's collar that roams from town to town preaching and telling "crazy" stories about the second coming. No one takes him seriously, especially when he raves about miracles and how he saved a young girl who was pregnant with the son of God. Only this baby who comes out of her, this so-called "Jesus," is born with no arms and deemed as a devil.

Part Three is a disturbing portrayal with Mary Queen of Scots. A victim of incest, and mother of her father's child, Mary is all that is tragic and painful in the world, a symbol of innocence lost and dreams crushed forever.

The book utilizes the author's omniscient point of view and very little dialogue. The cave is a recurrent image in the novel, and the wild animals add a delicate touch of myth and magical realism.

Sanchez's writing style, though, is exquisite. Her flawless prose flows like "the blood that streamed down her hands [Mary's] and arms as her father carried her to the river that would be her grave."

Armchair Interviews says: Sometimes beautiful, sometimes disturbing, but always memorable, Stillbird is highly recommend for the serious reader.