Mary Costello is a new author to me. Per Wikipedia, she is an Irish author of short stories and novels; she was born in Galway and now lives in Dublin. Her two novels are Academy Street (2014) and The River Capture (2019). Her first short story collection was The China Factory (2012).
Her next collection, Barcelona, will be out in March 2024; this story will be in that collection.
"The Choc-Ice Woman"
The setting is in Ireland. Frances, the narrator, is accompanying the remains of her brother Denis in a hearse, as a passenger. It is a longish drive, from Dublin, where her brother was in the hospital, to Kerry, where they live. Her husband Frank is following them to the funeral home in their car. Along the way, on this trip, we learn about her background and her family, and about her marriage. Frances and her husband are in their early sixties. They have been married about 30 years. The story is surprising and sad.
This story was a very good read, even though it was somewhat unsettling; I will be on the lookout for other stories by this author.
"The Choc-Ice Woman" was published in the print edition of the October 16, 2023, issue of the New Yorker. It is available online here; I don't know if you have to have a subscription to access it.
14 comments:
Just by reading your description, Tracy, it sounds as though this is an atmospheric sort of story. And the context of it really does feel unsettling. I can see how it made an impression on you.
This reminded me that I am too often not reading the stories in a magazine I subscribe to!
Patti, I see newsletters in my email from the New Yorker everyday but somehow I only notice the fiction offerings every now and then. The last fiction I read at the New Yorker (online) was a story by Lauren Groff for a Short Story Wednesday post in March of this year. I should make a habit of checking for them regularly. It might make a difference if I got the paper copy too.
Margot, the story definitely creates a mood, and tells the story behind her marriage very gradually. It was not a fun read, but very compelling.
I always love seeing the covers of the New Yorker, so interesting artistically and I've even seen some made into jigsaw puzzles. The story sounds like one of those excellent introspective type tales that work well when they're well written.
I've seen "choc-ice" used before and was always curious about what it was - a dish of chocolate ice cream? But I just Googled it and see it's what my mother calls a "Good Humor" - a block of vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate. I guess in the UK it doesn't come on a stick!
Cath, I like The New Yorker covers also. I read it online so I don't always notice each cover but I can go check the archive.
It was a very well-written story. It stayed in my mind for a long while after I finished it.
Constance, I wondered what choc-ice was too. Based on the context, I assumed a frozen chocolate dessert. I was also interested that the sister went along in the hearse. I read an interview with the author (also at The New Yorker) which said that it was common in Ireland for a family member to ride in the hearse.
Even non-subscribers can access the story online if we haven't exhausted our free samples this ?month...thanks for the pointer!
And in the States, we have a long history of "stickless" chocolate-coated ice-cream bars, formerly national Eskimo Pies (sic--now-regional Edy's Pies) and still-extant and widely available Klondike Bars, and competitors.
No choc-ices don't come on a stick. Constance is right it's a small block of vanilla ice-cream covered in chocolate. Used to be the height of sophistication years and years ago, these days not so popular with the advent of all sorts of delicious chocolate covered ice lollies on sticks.
Todd, thanks for that information. I hoped that the New Yorker offered limited articles/stories per month but wasn't sure.
For that type of dessert I think I prefer a stick but I don't eat much ice cream anymore anyway.
Cath, thanks for the confirmation. The way it is described in the story it sounds like it is on a stick but not totally clear. I like to have little things like this clarified. It is part of an important event in the story.
Hi I am Irish and from Kerry originally. A Choc-ice definitely comes on a stick! Growing up it was a luxury rightly described as vanilla covered in chocolate. A brilliant story I thought. Like other commenters I tend to read reviews and long form pieces first and the story can remain unread.
Thanks for the comment, Kennelly. It was a very good story, long enough to form a picture of the woman and her marriage over many years. It was almost too long to enjoy reading online but I was so immersed in the story that I kept going.
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