"So much violence and lack waiting on the other end of the violence and lack that people poured out of the South to escape, and still they kept believing there was someplace in this country where they could be Black and be safe and make a home."
Danielle Evans's novella and short story collection gets off to a slow-ish start, but finds its stride with four stellar stories in a row, making "The Office of Historical Corrections" a powerful and emotional read.
Exploring the trade of casual sex for self-awareness, Evans initially makes some of the stories a little less accessible for some. "Happily Ever After" left me wanting more as the opener and "Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain" redeems itself at the end.
"All her adult life people have asked Rena why she goes to such dangerous places, and she has always wanted to ask them where the safe place is."
While occasionally hiding the impetus for her characters' motives at times, Evans syncs beautifully with characters in "Alcatraz" and "Anything Could Disappear," weaving indelible tales that demonstrate connections across experiences and geographies.
" ... I understood more now about how it feels to love the excess in people, about how knowing someone else's love will consume you doesn't make it any less real or any less reciprocated, about how you can leave a person behind just to save the thing they value most -- yourself."
"Boys Go to Jupiter" and "Why Won't Women Just Say What They Want" offer vivid and searing commentaries on contemporary discussion surrounding cancel culture and misogyny, setting the stage for the titular story, a 102-page stunner that serves as the ideal cog for a memorable collection.
"That my country might always expect me to audition for my life I accepted as fact, but I trust the public charter of national government more than I trusted average white citizens acting unchecked. I believed in government, I had come to understand, the way that agnostics who hadn't been to service in decades sometimes hedged their bets and brought their babies to be baptized or otherwise welcomed into the religions of their parents' youth."
Evans's flowing prose is punctuated with observations that stop you in your tracks, allowing the stories to stick with you long after reading. "The Office of Historical Corrections" is not to be missed for those seeking a master class in character building within the short story format.
"Besides the tablecloths, the decor is all old photographs and postcards that they scrounged up from wherever, because you know how white people love their history right up until it's true."
No comments:
Post a Comment