by Joyce V. Harrison
Rating: ****
What Now? is a nicely calibrated collection of eight stories that broadly deal with the consequences of unforeseen events and their wider impact on characters’ lives. These incidents tend to serve as catalysts for change or self-examination, not always in a positive manner.
The collection opens with Loot, which introduces Ella-Mae, a sixty-something waitress who makes an intriguing discovery whilst walking her dog, Ralphie. It begins in a jaunty, light-hearted style. Harrison quickly establishes Ella-Mae with warmth and wry humor, leading the reader to anticipate a sweetly satisfying conclusion.
However, Harrison abruptly upends this expectation with a brutally poignant ending, making Loot the only tale where change is within reach of the main protagonist but, unfortunately, not fulfilled.
Hopscotch is a gratifying story of corporate power play, if a little predictable. Harrison’s prose, especially in the novel's first half is neat and straightforward, relying on the minutiae of a character's everyday surroundings and routine, mundane details that often reflect or detract from the protagonist’s turmoil.
Haircut is an interesting little vignette. It is the first written from a male perspective and gives an intriguingly fresh take on a narrative that would normally have been unfolded from a female point of view.
As the collection reaches halfway with one of the longer stories, The V Pill, the underlying darkness in the previous three tales is brought to the forefront. Lori, the central character, elicits empathy but not necessarily likability.
From the outset, the reader senses she may not be entirely reliable or is hostage to some element of self-deception, a suspicion that is proved horribly accurate. Again, Lori’s environment is used to illustrate her delusion, and Harrison’s writing in this piece also echoes Lori’s detached state of mind.
The fifth offering, Moon in Scorpio, is incredibly dark. Harrison loads the story with foreshadowing, although the harrowing circumstances that Tara endures at the hands of her boyfriend, Leon, still come as a shock. It’s a raw, gripping story with a slightly ambiguous and thought-provoking ending, in common with the majority of the collection.
Indeed, in most of the stories, the unexpected yet credible events give Harrison’s characters more than one direction to take or decision to make, aptly fulfilling the collection title, while subliminally posing it to the reader.
Leaving Glory has a different feel to the others, although the driving premise is similar. The narrative has a soft, supernatural gloss, and Logan, around whom the story swirls, has an uncanny, compelling quality.
On the Verge is the longest and most developed of all the stories. Harrison skillfully builds the tension in Luke’s seemingly picture-perfect yet mechanical existence. When the reckoning arrives, it does so in savage manner, to the point that the reader almost feels sympathetic toward him, especially as Harrison makes them privy to a traumatic episode in his past that has a painful connection to his present, if self-inflicted woes.
Mile 23 was a good choice for the ultimate story; sad, affecting, but curiously uplifting. Harrison gently brings her character, Marshall, to life, with a beautifully nuanced portrayal leaving the reader in no doubt that Marshall makes the right decision for him.
What Now? is an engaging character-driven compilation, full of bittersweet insight and keen observation. Highly recommended.
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