In "Terrace," the first of four connected stories, Annie, Edward, and their infant daughter, Rose, have to downsize into a much smaller, cramped apartment. They are definitely saddened by this move, because instead of the view of the outdoors that they had in their old apartment, their view is now an air shaft. But one day, when entertaining Annie's coworker Stephanie, they find a beautiful terrace inside a closet. Suddenly their view has changed, and they are absolutely thrilled.
They quickly discover that the terrace only seems to appear when Stephanie visits them. They are torn between wanting to keep inviting her over and feeling bad that they're using her to keep having access to the terrace. But everything good comes with a cost, and one night everything changes for the small family, with repercussions for the future.
Some of the stories follow related characters—"Folly" focuses on a married couple, and the woman is a descendant of Rose; while "Cantilever" takes place in the distant future, with a young woman working at a space station, when she is visited by an older woman who says she wanted to meet her. "Fortress" is about Stephanie, and tracks her from childhood to a point in the future.
I found "Folly" the oddest story, and I wasn't exactly sure what Leichter was trying to say with that one. The other stories made more sense (although "Fortress" was definitely a bit confusing) and they definitely provoked emotional reactions.
Leichter is a tremendously talented writer. I'd love to do some research into what inspired her to write this book, because that knowledge might inspire me to re-read this at some point. This is definitely not a book for everyone, but I'd imagine fans of literary or experimental fiction may enjoy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment