Randall Jergen - not the worst drunk in town, but well on his way to becoming so - claimed that, when he stumbled by the Sorenson house by mistake, he saw the widow seated at the head of a well-laid table, heaped to the point of breaking, with boiled potatoes and candied squash and roasted vegetables of every type and description. Each chair was filled, not with relatives or friends or even acquaintances, but with animals. He reported two dogs, one raccoon, one porcupine, a lynx, and an odd looking bear sitting opposite the pretty widow. A bear who grasped its wine goblet and held it aloft to the smiling Mrs. Sorenson who raised her own glass in response. - Dreadful Young Ladies by Kelly Barnhill
Who can resist intrigue like that? This book combines two of my favorite, but seldom packaged together, literary genres - short stories and magical realism. Story one in this collection, "Mrs. Sorenson and the Sasquatch" begins with the widow arriving at her husband's funeral followed by her animal family. Nothing more unusual than that. MR readers know to simply accept bizarre, realistically incongruous behaviors and move on. Not accepting results in closing the book, or reading to the end with regrets about time wasted over such_________________. Fill in the blank. We have all been there - forced purselves to finish a book because that is what we do. We finish.
I will finish this book. The first story hooked me. Just think about the possibilities hinted at by the title alone. Even though I have only read the first story, I fully expect Barnhill's lyrical prose alone to keep me reading. I am hopeful that the same hypnotic literary alchemy sweeps through the entire collection.
What else am I reading? Book group #1 has selected The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. Nice, feel good book without being preachy or saccharine. More next week when I finish.
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