I apologize for my absence; I've been pretty busy with school, work, writing projects and counting down the days until Glee returns from its four-month hiatus. Anyway, today I return with a little review of an Antonya Nelson story entitled "Shauntrelle". In this story, a woman named "Constance" attempts to start a new life after a divorce and a break-up.
What's that, you say? A divorce AND a break-up? Yep. That's right. Our heroine had been cheating on her hubby for five years before going public with her sordid affair. An affair that doesn't last long after she moves in with the other man. And Lady Gaga thought she new something about Bad Romances...
I liked this story for its honesty. Constance is never really painted as a sinner or a saint--she's a woman who gave up on her marriage, only to find her "Plan B" relationship fall apart. Where does she go from there? Well, that's the question of the hour for this story. Constance is in a state of flux.
This is where Nelson's talent shines. She utilizes so many techniques to illustrate this theme of loss of identity. Constance's comically over-the-top roommate, Fanny Mann, is the most obvious. The character, with her countless elective surgeries, is a literal interpretation of losing one's sense of identity. She's made up of more fake parts that Darth Vader, for crying out loud.
Nelson also uses simple yet effective language to convey Constance's sense of disorientation. She refers to keys and car tags as "devices for entry into her new life." People mistaking her for Felicia or Gerald or Shauntrelle help plunge the reader into this sense of a newly-forming identity.
The only qualm I had with the story is the whole third person, thing. I get that she doesn't recognize herself or her life, but people speaking in the third person (and italicized thoughts) really bug me. I guess that's just a personal thing, though. All in all, I really enjoyed this story--not necessarily for the plot but for the way Nelson presents it.
He hopes you'll join him next time for another exciting edition of The F Bomb
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