Apparitions

Glantz (Family Tree) explores pleasure, pain, and submission in this intense dual narrative of women overcome by passion, whether for a man or for Christ. The first concerns Sister Lugarda, who is ecstatically whipped and cut by fellow nun Teresa in the name of spiritual purity. As Teresa whips Lugarda, her visions of Jesus and pious contemplations become increasingly erotic (“When will your beautiful light clothe my senses in glory?” she prays out loud, naked to the waist, while blood runs down her back). Glantz alternates this story with that of an unnamed mother in a submissive relationship with her male lover. Her daughter watches the couple through an open door, which initially unsettles the protagonist. The man is unbothered, however, and orders her to close her eyes, after which she has a vision of her daughter’s gaze that “electrifies” her. The couple’s twisted dynamic is upended when the daughter begins to wear trousers and spread her legs like a boy, prompting the man to object (“Girls should sit with their knees together or their legs crossed,” he says). Glantz’s writing is raw and vulnerable, much like the women she writes about. This complex portrait of all-consuming desire is tough to shake. (Jan.)