“And perhaps the girl had also meant exactly what she’d said about love–that it was from heaven, freely given and necessary, but rich people never had to feel necessity; if a friendship broke down, or a marriage, or a blood relationship, they somehow always managed to buy another one. Life could be made very agreeable that way. But love was what the goddess has said it was–not pure: poor.”
–Rachel Ingalls, “I See A Long Journey” in Three Masquerades. (Berkeley, CA: Pharos Editions, 2017), 76.
Recommended. Comprised of three novellas: I See a Long Journey, Friends in the Country, and On Ice. In these three tales, Rachel Ingalls starts with a female character and situating her in a domestic relationship. The first part conveys a sense of the protagonist — her hopes, dreams and fears. And then, in each of these stories, everything goes sideways in a strange, possibly even supernatural way. Reading each was like watching a magician doing something unanticipated, like opening a coffin and having a swarm of locusts emerge that devour the audience. Lovely and weird.
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