The Black Diamond Ring

Lisa Parsons is a freelance writer in Kingston.

In this collection of short stories, Patricia Seaman shows an unusual
ability to evoke, in just a few words, a setting, character, or
emotional state, whether or not it is familiar to the reader. A lingerie
department in a downtown Toronto store, a seaside town in Spain,
inner-city streets at night—all come vividly to life in writing that
seems to speak directly to the senses. All of the stories deal with
women’s lives, relationships, and experiences. Although it is in no
way a feminist polemic, this collection contains very few male
characters (and those who do appear are rarely presented in a positive
light).

Seaman successfully adapts her style to the length of the particular
story. The most experimental piece is “Maids of the Mist,” in which
short, evocative, grammatically unlinked phrases form impressionistic
portraits of five characters; this style would make for heavy reading in
a long story, but is fairly effective in this context. Seaman uses more
conventional prose in “Summer of Love,” a moving story of a girl’s
worship of her older, runaway sister. The author is at her best in those
stories that describe a single character or event, using just enough
detail to stimulate the reader’s imagination. One of the most
appealing of these is “Ulli on the Beach,” in which a woman
traveling in Spain meets a likable and enviably self-sufficient artist
in her early sixties. The collection’s darkest story, “Victim
Diary,” tells the story of a woman who is stalked and then murdered by
her former lover. Even with this theme, Seaman retains her elegance,
never relying on ugliness or brutality for impact. The Black Diamond
Ring leaves the reader wishing to hear from her again.