This is a collection of essays that were written for magazines from late 1960s through the COVID pandemic. Each is a raw glimpse into a life that is extraordinary because of its ordinariness.
The first story finds a young pregnant woman full of hope and expectations of the next chapter of her life encountering a distraught and overwhelmed mother with two small children blocking her aisle at the supermarket. As the pregnant woman tries to help, she sees through the terror of the mother the stark reality of being overwhelmed by children and how hard and lonely motherhood is. The expectant mother leaves far less sure of herself and the assumptions she made about what life would be after the baby is born.
The additional stories cover other areas of facing reality that was unexpected and now needed to be endured. The stories are told in monotone – underscoring the numbness at the center character of each story as they move through the motions of living. Each story covers a different time in the life of the seemingly same person – even if not explicitly stated. The sameness of this, to me, makes this universal for all people to live through these experiences.
The last story, a heartbreaking reality for so many during the COVID pandemic, brings the collection to a close with the reality that life is fragile, and no matter how much you try, our end is lonely and final.
Well written, full of raw emotion, this is an indictment of the assumptions we make of what life should be versus what life really is.
The Source 4 Books 