“El maíz de la soledad,” the text presented here in English translation as “One Hundred Cornfields of Solitude,” is from Querencia: crónicas de una latinoamericana en USA, a collection of Spanish-language essays drawn from [Melanie Márquez Adams's] life as an immigrant, a Latina, and a writer living in the South. [...] In this piece, she addresses the fear and isolation that seem to follow women around the world, no matter where they go. Written in the second person, it invites the reader to step into the shoes of a woman—who is already facing the dynamics and discrimination of being an immigrant in the US—that arrives full of optimism to a small town in the Midwest. There her illusions of comfort, safety, and support are swiftly crushed. --Emily Hunsberger, the translator
