Set against a vast swath of humanity and place, the stories in Once Wild capture deeply intimate yet universally resonant dimensions of our lives. Whether transporting us to humid fecund tributaries in Amazonas or to the winter-gripped streets of Manhattan, del llano's visceral scenes are fueled by unflinching clarity.
A writer in New York eulogizes his father's global legacy, unearthing a haunting secret from their exotic and remote past. A fiery, trailblazing midwife in Texas confronts lingering shadows of a violent event from her youth, striving to reclaim her sense of agency and purpose in life. A Salvadoran refugee who has become a lawyer travels to rural Iowa to face a conservative farm family with the painful truth surrounding their son's tragic drowning in Hawaii. An Ohio aircraft engineer wrestles with inner demons when one of his planes goes down fatally in Argentina. The widow of a renowned Poet Laureate devises a plan to smuggle her late husband's ashes into Mozambique to the Indian Ocean, honoring his final wish to have his remains scattered across the seven seas. An affluent family in Connecticut is thrown into turmoil during the holidays when their eldest son returns home in drag, a bold attempt to reconcile the suicide of his younger brother. A retired urban professor experiences a curious awakening following a surgical procedure under propofol, leading him to a life-altering decision. An agnostic scientist from Sweden finds herself alienated in her marriage when her husband's profound connection with the divine challenges her paradigm of love and existence.
del llano's wide range of voice delivers characters, places and scenes with passion and longing, both heartbreaking and humorous. These are journeys of resilience and survival.
