Guadalupe Nettel Books in Order

Five stories examine human relationships through unsettling connections with animals and other living things. Fish, cockroaches, cats, a snake and a fungus reveal hidden tensions around intimacy, reproduction and the difficult arrangements people make to share their lives.

The lives of Claudio and Cecilia unfold across Havana, Paris and New York, shaped by solitude and longing. Their search for intimacy brings them into relationships where private rituals, remembered losses and the desire for connection pull against one another.

Laura chooses a life without children while her friend Alina prepares for a baby whose medical prognosis is devastating. As their lives take unexpected turns, Laura’s bond with a neighbor’s son complicates her assumptions about care, friendship and motherhood.

Eight stories follow people unsettled by estrangement, envy and the possibility of another life. Family secrets, threatened identities and disturbing changes expose the fragile boundaries between ordinary experience and the unfamiliar worlds that loneliness can open.