A review by steller0707
Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen

5.0

These four stories tackle issues that are still prevalent today: racism, addiction, feminism. All of these stories will stand up to rereading. The first of my favorites is “As I Stand Ironing,” a mother’s melancholy musings on the young life of her first daughter, which was lived by necessity, with hardships. The second favorite, “Tell Me a Riddle,” is really a novella and is the best in this slim book. It is about an aging couple, émigrés from Russia, who have both made sacrifices for themselves and their children, and who have differing ideas about how to live out their remaining years. It’s a poignant tearjerker of the very best kind!