CROSS-CULTURAL FICTION …entertaining, character-driven novels set in little-known places

LIBRARY AND BOOK CLUB CHOICES with questions about social justice, cultural differences and our global environment…

CHARACTER-DRIVEN stories with quirky protagonists who surprise even themselves…

BOOKS whose characters will haunt you long after you’ve put them down…

NOVELS constructed of multiple narratives…

UNDISCOVERED AUTHORS with great stories to tell…

THIS YEAR’S SELECTED TITLES by EDIE AYALA

Featuring titles by author Edie Ayala, Stories with Character is a publisher of cross-cultural fiction. Ayala writes character-driven novels about people in little-known places who are often marginalized or disregarded. Intriguing and foreign, the quirky, sometimes eccentric protagonists, may haunt you long after you’ve put the book down. Sprinkled with magic realism and humor, the stories unfold over themes about social justice, cultural differences and environmental questions that are begging for discussion.

Stories with Character strives to “enrich local by reading cross-cultural.”

Available titles are SOUTH OF CENTRE, HARD BED HOTEL and THREADS (see below). For information about the author, please visit Edie Ayala’s site. Or contact us.

REVIEWS

South of Centre

“I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down. The author has captured life in northern Chile to a tee. She has very successfully woven local stories of townspeople, gypsies, miners, and political events into a charming and most unlikely tale of love. A great read!” – Amazon review

“I loved this story from the first page [….] The characters are wonderfully full and the place, well it’s a strange and wonderful town full of comedy and love. The writer really knows how to make you laugh, but at the same time there’s a serious emotional story that spans many years.” – Amazon review

Hard Bed Hotel

Hard Bed Hotel is a hilarious book, the kind that sets you laughing aloud to yourself long after you’ve put it down…. if you can put in down, once the plot starts careening towards its unexpected dénouement. – Amazon review

It’s hilarious! The author’s glee in bringing oddball characters to life and off to meet their improbable destinies is infectious. Observations gleaned with an eye for the absurd over long years of residence in Santiago infuse this story with fond insights into some of the least obvious corners of the city. – Amazon review

Threads

“Wonderful story-telling: How can two completely different worlds be so connected? This is what Threads deals with in a gripping way – I say gripping because I was constantly curious to see what would happen next to each of the characters. It made me laugh and cry and think about how one or two small actions can have a massive impact on somewhere or someone far away. Edie Ayala’s characters are what I loved the most – a real insight into human nature.” – Kindle Reviewer, UK

“This odd little novel bounces between an affluent British Columbia town and a poverty-stalked village in Chile… Ayala flirts with magical realism here, takes a couple of swipes at New Age Paganism, and frowns severely at first-world consumerism… As a knitter, I was particularly enchanted by the descriptions of the sweaters and by Irene’s use of them to create a barrier between herself and her grief.” – LibraryThing review

““Recommended for: Those who enjoy something more offbeat, who are not afraid of the unlikeability of main characters, or those who want to learn more about what happens to clothes you drop off in those ‘donate your old wardrobe for our future!’ bins.” – LibraryThing review

South of Centre

(Cross-cultural fiction | Chile)

The intriguing saga of hidden family connections.

Dipping into some of Chile’s rich history around the time of the Pinochet regime, South of Centre unfolds through multiple narratives and is peppered with magic realism. The story raises questions about social justice and other things that you can never quite get to the bottom of.
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Hard Bed Hotel

(Cross-cultural fiction | Chile)

A humorous story that mistakes the living for the dead trips along through a Chilean cemetery to a delightfully unexpected end.

Everything goes wrong but maybe it’s right, as heaven and earth settle into an unexpected juxtaposition in this twisted Latin tale that is doused with humor and magic realism.

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Threads

(Cross-cultural fiction | Chile)

The story of a woman who has an extraordinary gift, a woman who needs one, and the man in the middle.

As two women on opposite ends of the world strive to get by, their distinct coping methods take bizarre twists. It’s about overcoming loss and our shared humanity.
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