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A review by apostrophen
Saints & Sinners: New Fiction from the Festival 2011 by Paul J. Willis, Amie M. Evans
5.0
(I'll be randomly skipping through this collection throughout my Short Stories 365 project).
"Fishwives," by Sally Bellerose
My first read through this story was, I believe, in my hotel room after someone - cough Rob Byrnes cough - had gotten me a wee bit drunk and my head was spinning too much to sleep. I loved it. For one, these were characters we so rarely see, financially marginalized lesbians who are truly struggling. In their eighties, with all the failures of health and life that come with it, this couple snaps and cracks on the page with a reality that weighs on the reader.
As their particular day - and a particular argument - plays through the story, the layers reveal themselves. Time, love, money, fear, anxiety, health - everything has its moment in this short tale. The brevity doesn't diminish the emotional punch one bit.
"Fishwives," by Sally Bellerose
My first read through this story was, I believe, in my hotel room after someone - cough Rob Byrnes cough - had gotten me a wee bit drunk and my head was spinning too much to sleep. I loved it. For one, these were characters we so rarely see, financially marginalized lesbians who are truly struggling. In their eighties, with all the failures of health and life that come with it, this couple snaps and cracks on the page with a reality that weighs on the reader.
As their particular day - and a particular argument - plays through the story, the layers reveal themselves. Time, love, money, fear, anxiety, health - everything has its moment in this short tale. The brevity doesn't diminish the emotional punch one bit.