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The Only Sound Is the Wind: Stories
A captivating debut collection exploring longing, loneliness, and connection, in stories that feature Cuban American characters and uncanny, speculative twists.
In the tradition of narrativa de lo inusual (narrative of the unusual), The Only Sound Is the Wind combines the fantastic with the everyday, weaving elements of magical realism and surrealist twists to sharpen our view of human (and animal) connection. In the title story, the arrival of a mail-order clone complicates a burgeoning romance; a lonely librarian longing for her homeland strikes up an unusual relationship in the award-winning “The Moth”; when humans start giving birth to puppies and kittens in “This New Turn,” a realignment of the natural order ensues; and the narrator of “Chicory” harnesses the power of invisibility to spy on her beautiful neighbor.
With a playful tenderness and satirical bent, The Only Sound Is the Wind is a lyrical exploration of solitude and communion, opening strange new worlds where characters try to make their way toward love.
In the tradition of narrativa de lo inusual (narrative of the unusual), The Only Sound Is the Wind combines the fantastic with the everyday, weaving elements of magical realism and surrealist twists to sharpen our view of human (and animal) connection. In the title story, the arrival of a mail-order clone complicates a burgeoning romance; a lonely librarian longing for her homeland strikes up an unusual relationship in the award-winning “The Moth”; when humans start giving birth to puppies and kittens in “This New Turn,” a realignment of the natural order ensues; and the narrator of “Chicory” harnesses the power of invisibility to spy on her beautiful neighbor.
With a playful tenderness and satirical bent, The Only Sound Is the Wind is a lyrical exploration of solitude and communion, opening strange new worlds where characters try to make their way toward love.
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2024
21 people are currently reading
3671 people want to read
About the author
Pascha Sotolongo
1 book21 followersPascha Sotolongo is an award-winning magical realist writer whose short fiction has been published in outlets including Narrative, American Short Fiction, Ninth Letter, and Pleiades. Originally from Florida, she teaches English and creative writing on the Great Plains.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 10, 2025
quietly gorgeous, what a sleeper of a book, this should be everywhere
November 22, 2024
A wonderful collection of strange and surreal stories. Sotolongo’s writing style is very descriptive and lyrical in a way that I really enjoyed. The subject matter from story to story varies quite a lot but there is a cohesion among the themes of belonging, family dynamics, and bending societal norms. Several stories deal with characters with uniquely strong connections to bugs and animals. I think that fans of The Only Sound is the Wind would really enjoy the comic collection The Skin You’re In and vice versa.
October 5, 2024
This was such a delightful collection of stories. I always appreciate some whimsy and magical realism sprinkled in my books, and each of these stories delivered. From a world where humans give birth to puppies and kittens, the availability of mail-order clones, and the power of invisibility, there was so much to love. Each story was a gem, and despite the limited length, every character (often of Cuban American descent) was fully fleshed out and felt incredibly realistic. I wish this book was longer because I was hooked on the fantastical worlds within The Only Sound is the Wind.
July 28, 2025
Weird & magical Florida!!! (And other places).
I love a story collection, and this is maybe my favorite one.
I love a story collection, and this is maybe my favorite one.
March 17, 2025
Adored these magical, sometimes other-worldly short stories. Cuban author but reminded me a lot of Japanese authors writing styles/prose.
February 3, 2025
I'm a big fan of weird short story collections. I'm dedicated to reading many more of them this year. I loved the majority of this collection. It was quieter than most of the other strange fiction I've read, but I loved its softness.
January 9, 2025
as with any collection of short stories, this one varies. while it had a multitude of different characters who lived different lives, some of the voices sounded and felt very similar.
I always appreciate reading works by Cuban authors as it helps me feel closer to my heritage, give me nostalgic feelings during the time I lived in Miami. Sotolongo did just that with this collections multiple times.
I always appreciate reading works by Cuban authors as it helps me feel closer to my heritage, give me nostalgic feelings during the time I lived in Miami. Sotolongo did just that with this collections multiple times.
January 4, 2025
These are stories about people who are stuck, and the process of change and escape. How do people get into their ruts, and how do they grow out of them? How does that look for women? What about queer women, or women of color? I loved the strangeness and the contrast, I thought every metaphor was effective.
I recommend this book for all readers who like short stories that make a lasting impact.
I recommend this book for all readers who like short stories that make a lasting impact.
January 21, 2025
Cool magical realism stuff. Reminds me of ‘La luz es como el agua’ 5 stars because my dear friend gifted it to me
November 1, 2024
I was lucky enough to win this book through a goodreads giveaway. (Thank you!) I actually did enjoy this one quite a bit. I am a fan of short story compilation books, and of course, I am right at home with sci-fi, the bizarre and strange, and the entertaining just like one of my weird daydreams. A myriad of entertaining and somehow relatable characters and situations. I love it! Keep it up, Pascha!
November 2, 2024
i love magical realism :,) these short stories were so fascinating
December 16, 2024
There is a playful tenderness to this book. Its short stories open a magical new world with elements of magic and surreal twists.
September 8, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! These stories release from WW Norton on October 1st, 2024 in the US.
The Only Sound is the Wind by Pascha Sotolongo is a hauntingly surreal debut that navigates the intricacies of love, belonging, and human vulnerability through 16 emotionally charged stories. As a Cuban American writer, Sotolongo brings a rich layer of cultural nuance to her characters, many of whom grapple with the weight of diaspora and assimilation. Her embrace of the Latin American “narrativa de lo inusual” tradition allows for a surreal edge in her storytelling, blending the ordinary with the uncanny in ways that feel both unsettling and familiar.
At its core, this collection explores the sacrifices we make for love and the ways in which we navigate the tension between solitude and connection. The stories frequently center on the complexities of relationships—whether romantic, familial, or with the self. Sotolongo's exploration of boundaries, inheritance, and identity feels deeply personal, particularly for those grappling with the pressures of assimilation and internalized racism. Many of the Cuban characters wrestle with body image and cultural expectations, revealing a quiet yet powerful critique of how white supremacy can seep into the most intimate parts of our lives.
One of the standout stories, “The Only Sound is the Wind,” depicts Ana’s eerie journey with her own clone, blurring the line between ownership and personhood. The story brims with existential unease as Ana and her clone grow closer, ultimately settling into an uneasily familiar companionship. Another favorite, “Sad Bird,” features a married lesbian couple whose quiet struggles with communication come to a head through a shared burial of dead birds. Sotolongo’s writing beautifully highlights how vulnerability is often the price we pay for deep, authentic love.
The surrealist undertones continue in “This New Turn,” where a woman gives birth to a dog, challenging societal norms around family and unconditional love. This story, with its tender portrayal of family bonds, evokes a sense of both absurdity and profound truth—pushing the reader to reconsider what it means to truly accept someone or something beyond expectation.
“Bloodletting” was perhaps the most memorable, portraying a codependent relationship disrupted by a stray cat who begins drinking the protagonist’s blood. This macabre yet compelling story touches on themes of sacrifice and emotional dependency, hinting at how we sometimes give too much of ourselves to the ones we love.
While the first half of the collection felt sharp and emotionally resonant, the second half lost a bit of its punch. The latter stories, while still enjoyable, lacked the same intensity, leaving me feeling slightly disconnected as I reached the end. Despite this, The Only Sound is the Wind remains a powerful debut, rich in introspection and lyrical prose. For readers who enjoy a mix of surrealism, cultural exploration, and deeply human stories, it’s worth reading just for how much I loved the first 6-8 stories, despite feeling a bit disappointed by the latter half.
📖 Recommended For: Readers who enjoy introspective and lyrical prose, fans of surreal and speculative fiction, those interested in stories about diaspora and cultural identity, anyone who appreciates narratives exploring the complexities of love and human connection, and admirers of Carmen Maria Machado and Puloma Ghosh.
🔑 Key Themes: Loneliness and Belonging, Diaspora and Assimilation, Unconditional Love, Boundaries in Relationships, Cultural Inheritance, Identity and Transformation, Surrealism and the Uncanny.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Classphobia (moderate), Self-Harm (minor), Blood (minor), Animal Death (minor), Lesbophobia (minor), Fire (minor), Sexual Assault (minor), Death of Parent (minor), Stalking (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Vomit (minor), Injury (minor), Pandemic (moderate), Bullying (minor).
The Only Sound is the Wind by Pascha Sotolongo is a hauntingly surreal debut that navigates the intricacies of love, belonging, and human vulnerability through 16 emotionally charged stories. As a Cuban American writer, Sotolongo brings a rich layer of cultural nuance to her characters, many of whom grapple with the weight of diaspora and assimilation. Her embrace of the Latin American “narrativa de lo inusual” tradition allows for a surreal edge in her storytelling, blending the ordinary with the uncanny in ways that feel both unsettling and familiar.
At its core, this collection explores the sacrifices we make for love and the ways in which we navigate the tension between solitude and connection. The stories frequently center on the complexities of relationships—whether romantic, familial, or with the self. Sotolongo's exploration of boundaries, inheritance, and identity feels deeply personal, particularly for those grappling with the pressures of assimilation and internalized racism. Many of the Cuban characters wrestle with body image and cultural expectations, revealing a quiet yet powerful critique of how white supremacy can seep into the most intimate parts of our lives.
One of the standout stories, “The Only Sound is the Wind,” depicts Ana’s eerie journey with her own clone, blurring the line between ownership and personhood. The story brims with existential unease as Ana and her clone grow closer, ultimately settling into an uneasily familiar companionship. Another favorite, “Sad Bird,” features a married lesbian couple whose quiet struggles with communication come to a head through a shared burial of dead birds. Sotolongo’s writing beautifully highlights how vulnerability is often the price we pay for deep, authentic love.
The surrealist undertones continue in “This New Turn,” where a woman gives birth to a dog, challenging societal norms around family and unconditional love. This story, with its tender portrayal of family bonds, evokes a sense of both absurdity and profound truth—pushing the reader to reconsider what it means to truly accept someone or something beyond expectation.
“Bloodletting” was perhaps the most memorable, portraying a codependent relationship disrupted by a stray cat who begins drinking the protagonist’s blood. This macabre yet compelling story touches on themes of sacrifice and emotional dependency, hinting at how we sometimes give too much of ourselves to the ones we love.
While the first half of the collection felt sharp and emotionally resonant, the second half lost a bit of its punch. The latter stories, while still enjoyable, lacked the same intensity, leaving me feeling slightly disconnected as I reached the end. Despite this, The Only Sound is the Wind remains a powerful debut, rich in introspection and lyrical prose. For readers who enjoy a mix of surrealism, cultural exploration, and deeply human stories, it’s worth reading just for how much I loved the first 6-8 stories, despite feeling a bit disappointed by the latter half.
📖 Recommended For: Readers who enjoy introspective and lyrical prose, fans of surreal and speculative fiction, those interested in stories about diaspora and cultural identity, anyone who appreciates narratives exploring the complexities of love and human connection, and admirers of Carmen Maria Machado and Puloma Ghosh.
🔑 Key Themes: Loneliness and Belonging, Diaspora and Assimilation, Unconditional Love, Boundaries in Relationships, Cultural Inheritance, Identity and Transformation, Surrealism and the Uncanny.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Classphobia (moderate), Self-Harm (minor), Blood (minor), Animal Death (minor), Lesbophobia (minor), Fire (minor), Sexual Assault (minor), Death of Parent (minor), Stalking (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Vomit (minor), Injury (minor), Pandemic (moderate), Bullying (minor).
May 10, 2024
The Only Sound Is the Wind: Stories is an extraordinary collection. Pascha Sotolongo writes with a beautiful, lyrical voice that instantly drew me into surreal, magical, and strange new worlds. I enjoy reading short story collections. My favorites include The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury and Exhalation by Ted Chiang, but I actually enjoyed this collection more than any other I can remember reading. I gravitate toward idea-driven stories that force me to look at the world in new ways, which The Only Sound Is the Wind definitely does, but this collection goes one step further. Sotolongo adds a lot of heart, soul, and humor, so her stories enthrall me intellectually and move me emotionally.
I am also struck by the cohesiveness of this collection. There are over-arching themes of solitude and longing in surreal worlds that echo and bring light to our own. While the stories work as stand-alones, the collection is masterful in how it flows effortlessly from one tale to the next. As I read, I felt as though I was on a fantastical journey that I didn’t want to end. I can’t remember ever feeling so disappointed that I’d reached the end of a book, except for maybe The Lord of the Rings.
Sotolongo weaves a path through a Twilight Zone inflected world guided by characters who manage their loneliness in surprising ways, characters whose relationships are multifaceted, true, honest, heartfelt, and complicated. I love the variety of relationships in the book: brother/sister, father/daughter, librarian/moth, worker/boss, lovers, clones, cats, birds. Sotolongo creates sympathetic characters that I trust, believe in, and root for.
There are no weak stories in this collection, but my favorite is “Chicory.” The narrator of this tale is a daughter who willingly finds herself in a bizarre circumstance, cutting chicory in the hot sun with a gold letter opener in an effort to use the plant to magically open a locked trunk. Her father’s idea. This mythical knowledge is gained from the collection of “farm filosofo” books which line his shelves. But the chicory has a side effect our narrator does not expect, and her decision to use the plant has consequences beyond her reckoning. And even as tempting as the plot is, it’s truly the relationship between the daughter and her father that make this story my favorite. She is young, still lives with him, takes care of him, wishes to be on her own but can’t seem to separate from him. And she is his world. She is all he has now. Her struggle and desire for something more culminates in an ending that brings me to tears.
Can’t wait to see what this author writes next!
I received an arc, but this review and the opinions it expresses are entirely my own.
I am also struck by the cohesiveness of this collection. There are over-arching themes of solitude and longing in surreal worlds that echo and bring light to our own. While the stories work as stand-alones, the collection is masterful in how it flows effortlessly from one tale to the next. As I read, I felt as though I was on a fantastical journey that I didn’t want to end. I can’t remember ever feeling so disappointed that I’d reached the end of a book, except for maybe The Lord of the Rings.
Sotolongo weaves a path through a Twilight Zone inflected world guided by characters who manage their loneliness in surprising ways, characters whose relationships are multifaceted, true, honest, heartfelt, and complicated. I love the variety of relationships in the book: brother/sister, father/daughter, librarian/moth, worker/boss, lovers, clones, cats, birds. Sotolongo creates sympathetic characters that I trust, believe in, and root for.
There are no weak stories in this collection, but my favorite is “Chicory.” The narrator of this tale is a daughter who willingly finds herself in a bizarre circumstance, cutting chicory in the hot sun with a gold letter opener in an effort to use the plant to magically open a locked trunk. Her father’s idea. This mythical knowledge is gained from the collection of “farm filosofo” books which line his shelves. But the chicory has a side effect our narrator does not expect, and her decision to use the plant has consequences beyond her reckoning. And even as tempting as the plot is, it’s truly the relationship between the daughter and her father that make this story my favorite. She is young, still lives with him, takes care of him, wishes to be on her own but can’t seem to separate from him. And she is his world. She is all he has now. Her struggle and desire for something more culminates in an ending that brings me to tears.
Can’t wait to see what this author writes next!
I received an arc, but this review and the opinions it expresses are entirely my own.
March 27, 2025
Objectively more like 4 stars, but for me 2.5 stars rounded up. I like weird stories, and while these mostly have some kind of weird or surreal aspect to them, it’s often minimal. My favorites were the ones that were weirder! The rest were meh and fine.
Favorites:
1. The Only Sound Is the Wind: Lonely woman gains a clone, and her original intentions with it make a shift.
2. This New Turn: People start birthing cats and dogs sometimes and not just human babies. How do we respond?
3. Obrero: Worker keeps getting asked to *dramatically* change their person to suit their boss (“can you come in as a woman tomorrow?”), but the accommodations never end.
Favorites:
1. The Only Sound Is the Wind: Lonely woman gains a clone, and her original intentions with it make a shift.
2. This New Turn: People start birthing cats and dogs sometimes and not just human babies. How do we respond?
3. Obrero: Worker keeps getting asked to *dramatically* change their person to suit their boss (“can you come in as a woman tomorrow?”), but the accommodations never end.
September 5, 2024
4.5 stars rounded down~
aw man I loooved this one! such a fun and inventive collection of stories - a lot of them played with magical realism in a way I really loved, realities that felt so real and relatable but always with a twist. I loved that animals played a central theme in a lot of the stories, also loved how the stories were very centered around Cuban protagonists. I just thought this was a really fun pleasant read, thoroughly enjoyed myself and can't wait till more people get to read it!
aw man I loooved this one! such a fun and inventive collection of stories - a lot of them played with magical realism in a way I really loved, realities that felt so real and relatable but always with a twist. I loved that animals played a central theme in a lot of the stories, also loved how the stories were very centered around Cuban protagonists. I just thought this was a really fun pleasant read, thoroughly enjoyed myself and can't wait till more people get to read it!
October 7, 2025
This collection was like a balm after the last book I read. There is such specificity in Sotolongo's writing. I'm in love with the way she weaves the weird and magical into the everyday to say something about discontentment, homesickness, disillusionment, longing, and even aging. Every word choice feels so intentional, especially when evoking a Cuban or Cuban-American history for a character now removed from their place or family of origin. I especially loved The Mustache.
May 30, 2025
Fabulous, banally surreal stories about identity, the (often blurred) line between animal and human, and the complexities of experiencing American capitalism as Latin American immigrant. Absolutely lovely.
Want to read
September 6, 2024#GoodreadsGiveaway
June 21, 2025
What a wonderful set of surreal yet familiar short stories.
September 11, 2025
Solid set of short stories. Overall melancholy. Every stories theme seems that the characters are longing for something more out of life. A comforting sad feeling that most of us feel. If you’re a fan of Salt Slow this feels in a similar category
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews