Lovers and Other Strangers

Britta Santowski is a freelance writer in Victoria, B.C.

Most of the 37 short stories in this collection are between two and four
pages long. A central theme is women’s experiences, with daughters,
lovers, wives, friends, nieces, and mothers all finding expression in
Malyon’s wide array of colorful heroines.

The collection is divided into three sections. “A Meditation on
Extinction” contains only one story (the finest in the book),
“Pencil,” a complex exploration of voice, language, and gender.
“The Mythologies of Lovers and Elephants” comprises two interrelated
stories, “Mythologies” and “Somewhere a Piper Plays Elephant
Songs.” The third section, “Lovers and Other Strangers,” contains
the remaining 34 stories. Many of these stories feature clichéd
characters or situations, such as the abused and silenced girl (“These
Days They Live Inside a House with Slanted Floors” and “Turtles”),
the neurosis of motherhood (“Crib Death”), and the process of
letting go (“Her Children Keep On Having Conversations Anyway” and
“Discarding”).

Carol Malyon is a talented writer with a sharp sense of humor and
interesting insights to offer on language, gender, and memory. However,
too many of these stories centre on tired clichés.

All would have benefited from more rigorous editing.