Reviewer: Alan Chin
Publisher: Scribner
Pages: 275
Nine exquisitely crafted stories make up this gem of a book,
set in present-day Ireland, 1970’s Spain, and nineteenth-century England. Each
story is a unique perspective on loneliness, desire, and love-lost.
“Silence” presents Lady Gregory, a woman married to a man
she abhors. Her loneliness is temporarily quenched by an impeccable lover, but she
is then abandoned by love and forced to live out her life, never being able to
speak of her one great passion.
“Two Women” tells of a prickly set designer who takes a job
in her hometown in Ireland, and is forced to confront the emotions of loss she
has long repressed.
“The Street” draws a portrait of Pakistani immigrants
working in Spain who must hide their relationship while living in a community
ruled by the laws set forth in the Koran, obedience to Allah, and silence.
All nine stories are shatteringly beautiful, thought
provoking, and poignant, but these three stand out as superlative. Toibin is a master of the written word,
presenting immaculately crafted stories with vivid, unsensationalized prose.
The Empty Family
was my introduction to this author, but I was so impressed that I will acquire
every book of fiction he has published. This volume of nine stories will go on
my favorite’s shelf and will be re-read again and again.
For readers looking for warm, happily ever after, my advice
is to keep looking. For readers who demand rich, bittersweet, and profound
storytelling, then run to the nearest bookstore and buy a copy, or two. This is
literature at its finest.
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