In December 2024, I read the first four stories in Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King. I liked them all; check out my thoughts on those stories here. I liked the characterizations; the stories were serious but ended on an upbeat note.
This week I read the remaining six stories in the book. Many of these stories are slice-of-life stories, and I had never really understood what that meant before. They take some brief time in a person's life and just describe the events, the emotions, etc. Some were about depressing subjects, but what I like about these stories is that you feel that life will go on with these people and they will have better days.
"South" was the ninth story in the book. Marie-Claude is driving from Baltimore, Maryland to Hatteras (Hatteras Island, North Carolina). Her two children are in the car, an obviously young son and an older daughter, age not specified. Marie-Claude and the children's father have recently separated. The mother and daughter talk and the daughter asks questions about the failure of the marriage that Marie-Claude does not want to answer or even think about. Even though the story itself is on the sad side, like most of the stories in this book, the ending leaves us with hope.
The last story was "The Man at the Door." I noticed that many readers that reviewed this book did not like that story at all, and I am not sure why. It read like a dream sequence to me. A mother with a young baby who is still nursing (and not napping enough) is trying to find some time to write. Her husband and two older children are not in the house. The baby wakes up; she tries to write while nursing him. Then a man comes to the door and insists on being let in. There is nothing at all realistic about this story; he keeps changing form and giving her advice on writing. It was very different from the other stories but still I enjoyed it. NOTE: After I wrote this, I saw several reviews which described this story as magical realism. I have had mixed reactions to magical realism in some books I have read, but this story was fine.
Hi Tracy,, First time I am hearing of Lily King and I think I will like these slice of life stories. Five Tuesdays In Winter is available to borrow on Libby. I will check out these stories and thanks for letting us know.
ReplyDeleteMagical realism, like all other fantasy, works when the metaphors underlying it are apt. This one as you describe it sounds pretty adept at getting to the heart of the matters at hand!
ReplyDeleteMan at the Door sounds quite different than the other more realistic stories in the book. I don't know this book of King's but I have liked two of her novels. I like the sound of South though a bit dark. Glad you enjoyed the book.
ReplyDeleteMy book group (which is meeting here tonight - I went to a lot of trouble making 1/4 of my recipe vegetarian so I hope that one person shows up) read King's Euphoria several years ago, which we enjoyed. I always find it interesting when an author tries different genres - sometimes her publisher finds is worrisome in case the readers don't follow!
ReplyDeleteI liked EUPHORIA so will look for this on libby.
ReplyDelete'Slice of life' stories can be appealing, Tracy. They can give some real insight into a character or group of characters. And I've always liked the way these sorts of stories give a sense of time and place.
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