Missing Persons

Louise E. Allin, a poet and short-story writer, is also an English instructor at Cambrian College.

Although a Toronto resident for many years, Carole Giangrande was born
and raised near New York City, which explains the Vietnam and Gulf War
themes of many of her stories. Her characters strive to dance on the
broken stage of life, bearing their emotional and physical infirmities
with an inspiring stoicism. Shadowy substructures of the increasing
powers of the media inform many of her tales—for example, when a
woman, obsessed with the mysterious disappearance of her friends,
studies and restudies their pictures; or when an urban story hunter
slices into his reels of tape in search of hard news. The eternal search
is another of her themes; in “Beirut Garden,” new Canadians search
for identity and belonging. The metaphor of flight as escape or
salvation, with the plane itself as an extension of the body, underlies
“Love and Gentle Art of Flying.” Throughout the collection, Canada
emerges as a safe haven for Vietnam exiles; but at what price and with
what dark secrecy do they drag their pasts behind them, inflicting their
own doubts and fears on their children? These lessons, which must be
relearned through each generation, surpass borders and summarize the
human condition. Giangrande writes with a keen but kindly eye; her
stories are both a pleasure and an education.