The Imposter – Silvina Ocampo

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Story: “The Imposter,” a novella (1948)

Author: Silvina Ocampo (Argentina)

Book: Thus We’re Their Faces (anthology)

A young man is sent to an isolated mansion in the countryside to study in the company of Armando Heredia, the allegedly disturbed and reclusive son of the protagonist’s father’s friend. As the pair become close, Heredia becomes increasingly suspicious that our protagonist has been sent there by his father to “keep an eye on him.” Meanwhile, our protagonist becomes obsessed with the mysterious woman who Heredia claims to love. He claims to have secret rendezvous with her, yet in reality, she died years ago. The story is set in the oppressively hot Argentinian summer, on the edge of a swelling and lonely marsh.

Why it’s gothic: this story simply IS gothic, there’s no two ways about it. There’s doomed romance, healthy doses of psychological terror, a sublimely harsh natural landscape, and a bleak house that “no one goes to anymore.” The sense that something isn’t right floods this novella from the very beginning. But it’s the relationship between our protagonist and Heredia that propels the narrative forward. They’re both deeply intimate with one another yet entirely distrustful, at each step trying to uncover each other’s true intentions. Their relationship leads to a twist ending that will not disappoint. Ocampo writes in an underwritten, high impact style. Her eerie scenes linger long after you turn the page.

Story By The Editors