I so enjoyed this story. Kirsten has woven a wonderful picture of the relationship between two young girls, the subtleties of their roles which form their characters, and the importance of their family and history. She has managed to keep the reader interested throughout and wanting to hear more. My only quibble was that I felt the end of the story fell a bit flat.
This is a brilliant story. From the poeticism of "turning flips in the liquid quiet" to the suspense about the true nature of Nemecia--I was hooked! The story is smoothly and efficiently written. The ending is full of pathos and as such is quite beautiful. Nemecia is damaged, fractured like light through a crystal, and lives on, coping.
Nemecia cutting her cousin's face is one of the most disturbing things I've ever read: "With one hand she smoothed my hair, and I felt myself soften under her hands as she worked her nail through my skin." The writer's words did something similar to me. Quade clearly has a poet's gift for metaphor. The descriptions of Nemecia's eating filled me with pity and dread. Considering how shocking and disturbing the story is at times, its tone is incredibly restrained. The cutting and eating -- their violence -- reminds me of Joyce Carol Oates at her best. It's a powerful story and one that I probably will never forget.
I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful, haunting story of these two girls and the way truth and lies confused identity and relationship. Beautifully told, suspenseful and poetic. A wonderful read!
Teresa Burns Gunther replied on Sat, 06/14/2014 - 08:39am
Helps the reader in becoming comfortable with a disturbing past attributed to a possibly bullying elder sibling; and also with the present when that sibling is a different person altogether though we mine for residuals of those traits of the past.
Ancheri Sreekumar replied on Mon, 10/06/2014 - 10:09am
I so enjoyed this story. Kirsten has woven a wonderful picture of the relationship between two young girls, the subtleties of their roles which form their characters, and the importance of their family and history. She has managed to keep the reader interested throughout and wanting to hear more. My only quibble was that I felt the end of the story fell a bit flat.
This is a brilliant story. From the poeticism of "turning flips in the liquid quiet" to the suspense about the true nature of Nemecia--I was hooked! The story is smoothly and efficiently written. The ending is full of pathos and as such is quite beautiful. Nemecia is damaged, fractured like light through a crystal, and lives on, coping.
This is an incredibly beautiful story! I was totally absorbed by her narration.
Nemecia is a wonderful story which proves strong craftsmanship of the writer. I have been amazed with smooth unfolding of the characters.
It is a real treat to find suspense in a short story, and that suspense built around the slow revelation of Nemecia's character. Well done.
Nemecia cutting her cousin's face is one of the most disturbing things I've ever read: "With one hand she smoothed my hair, and I felt myself soften under her hands as she worked her nail through my skin." The writer's words did something similar to me. Quade clearly has a poet's gift for metaphor. The descriptions of Nemecia's eating filled me with pity and dread. Considering how shocking and disturbing the story is at times, its tone is incredibly restrained. The cutting and eating -- their violence -- reminds me of Joyce Carol Oates at her best. It's a powerful story and one that I probably will never forget.
I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful, haunting story of these two girls and the way truth and lies confused identity and relationship. Beautifully told, suspenseful and poetic. A wonderful read!
Helps the reader in becoming comfortable with a disturbing past attributed to a possibly bullying elder sibling; and also with the present when that sibling is a different person altogether though we mine for residuals of those traits of the past.
This story was orchestrated beautiful. A delicate yet complex syncretic percipience of culture, language, and perilous dialogue.