Pack an emotional punch
resented and envied, has led a miserable life with her exhusband, a perennially unfaithful man. Unsatisfactory love affairs feature in more than one story, leaving people in a state of wistful resignation rather than bitterness or anger.
You close the book with a sense of melancholy but with an abiding admiration for Trevor’s considerable gifts. by Curtis Sittenfeld Doubleday, £16.99 I DON’T read many short story collections, generally preferring the more immersive pleasures of a novel, but if Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife and Eligible, wrote a telephone directory I would read it. And each of these stories contains so much psychological insight, depth and wit that they are entirely satisfying and engaging. In fact any of these short stories might have been expanded into a novel, Sittenfeld invariably leaving the reader wanting more.
We meet women indelibly shaped by their teenage experiences. Sittenfeld explores toxic teen friendships in Vox Clamantis In Deserto. A newly married woman tries to avoid her school nemesis on her honeymoon (A Regular Couple) and a 40-something woman seeks out her oblivious high school crush (Do-Over).
Other women find that the challenging realities of adult life have stripped them of their confidence and sense of purpose. In Gender Studies a Democrat divorcee has a demoralising one-night stand with a Republican.
A woman attending antenatal classes finds fellowship where she least expects it (Bad Latch) while a journalist and single mother has a stressful experience interviewing a celebrity with her indignant baby in tow (Off The Record).
In the title story a married mother develops a crush on a school dad. Another married mother develops a troubling form of intimacy with her brother-in-law (Plausible Deniability).
Several stories are set against the backdrop of the bruising US election and in The Nominee a presidential candidate bearing an unmistakable resemblance to Hillary Clinton reflects upon years spent absorbing personal criticism without being able to answer back truthfully.
Volunteers Are Shining Stars is the one story that jars slightly. Part of the appeal of Sittenfeld’s relatable, often amusing characters is that they are not all likeable all the time. However OCD sufferer Karen is unsettlingly unsympathetic. But this is an insightful, thoughtprovoking and reliably entertaining collection that is every bit as rewarding as a good novel.