This darkly playful and subversive debut story collection explores the many impossible choices that accompany 21st century femaleness.What is the right way to handle an abusive partner? An unexpected pregnancy? A toxic friendship? Chronic unemployment? A family member going to war? A disability? Anger? Loneliness? Finding themselves in disempowering, frightening, or otherwise unendurable circumstances, the girls and women in Maria Adelmann's stories look for ways to free themselves into new lives or, at the very least, new states of feeling. Sometimes they do this by hurting someone else or getting hurt; sometimes by submitting, other times by mounting a rebellion. With a special talent for pressing the sharp up against the tender, Adelmann explores the many pathways through the titular condition.Ranging in style from the magical to the terrifying to the calm tones of a self-help manual, GIRLS OF A CERTAIN AGE captures the spectrum of strategies we apply to the pain of life, strategies that we persist in pretending might actually work.
I don't always reach for short stories but I generally enjoy them when I do. This collection is no exception and some of the stories (Elegy, Middlemen, None of These Will Bring Disaster) I really, really enjoyed! I did feel that the collection was cohesive and well written about the various experiences of women today. I would definitely read more by this author.
Girls of a Certain Age came out last month on February 16, 2021 and you can purchase HERE. Definitely pick this up if you are a fan of short stories!
Songs were like tarot cards. You could always find a way to see yourself.
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