Cat Rambo won the Nebula award in 2020 for her novelette Carpe Glitter, and it deserves the award.

It’s a look at the granddaughter of a stage magician, going through her grandmother’s home after her death, and dealing with all the detritus that is saved through a life.  This isn’t a fun process; I’ve done it now twice, and at least I didn’t have to do it alone.  What to keep, what to sell, what to donate, and what to throw away is a wrenching ordeal.  Although she has to do it on her own, the protagonist does have to handle her mother’s opinions on her decisions.

In the process of going through everything, the protagonist discovers the answers to multiple family mysteries.  She gains some family, loses some more, discovers a ghost and a mechanical man.

The novelette is closer to horror than I usually read and enjoy, but I did enjoy this story and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, spooky read.

Rambo, Cat. Carpe Glitter. (Meerkat Press, October 29, 2019.) 62 pages. 4 stars.