Unnamed Woman, “A Sorrowful Woman”
The titular character of this strange story is defined in the purposely ironic engagement of fairy tale as its opening line: “Once upon a time there was a wife and mother one too many times.” By the end of the first short paragraph, she has already confessed to her husband that she is sick to death of him and their son. What follows is an intentionally flatly composed narrative recasting the happily-ever-after fantasy of the fairy tale as a modern story of social anxiety and personality disorders.
Mrs. Wakely, “Nobody’s Home”
Mr. Wakely is another husband with an unhappy wife. This story also verges lightly into the territory of ironic subversion of fairy tale theater, but in a much different way. Mrs. Wakely isn’t so much sorrowful as she is curious about her lack of fulfillment. Rather than emotionally unloading the burden of domesticity by locking herself away like a Rapunzel, her voyeuristic intrusion into the life of her neighbor creates an entirely new domestic situation for herself.
Carrie Ames, “Mr. Bedford and the Muses”
Carrie is the narrator of the story and a writer. The first thing the reader learns is that she has been keeping a journal since she was thirteen. Then they learn of the time she spent living with a British family in the early sixties. The story is all about what readers learn from writers and what writers learn from the people around them. Everything is eventually fodder for fiction.
Esther, “Interstices”
Esther is yet another unhappy wife. Actually, Esther seems to be merely an unhappy person. Perhaps even psychotic, but for any man to suggest such a diagnosis would be an intrusion by the patriarchy upon the sisterhood. Is Esther psychotic? A party involving a thaw freezer, spoiled meat and the potential for murder suggests yes. But Esther’s long, involved and complicated story raises certain questions of motivation.
