Like a Terrible Fish

Abstract

"Like a Terrible Fish" is a collection of nine original short stories, exploring feminine issues from girlhood through womanhood. The collection begins with "Chrysalis," the story of a ten-year-old girl who is doing her best to accept and escape from an inflexible mother, nearsightedness that now requires corrective lenses, and the first boy who has ever taken her breath away. "Burn the Witches" and "Jungle" explore the daily remorse and reward of single motherhood.

"June, Twenty-Two" is a candid account of a young woman experiencing her burgeoning sexuality. "Vertigo" tells the story of a young unfettered woman trying her best to have an affair with a married man; and "Radio Flyer" is the story of a similar unencumbered girl who doesn't quite belong anywhere on Christmas, but tries to salvage the day for herself and a young dinner guest. "Pink" and "Anathema" take a darker look at femininity, dealing with abortion, and suicide in the form of starvation. Finally, "Revival," told from a first-person point of view, embraces four generations of women whose connections to one another are loose and fleeting, but like a snapshot, are frozen in time.