pickSoft pick.
These are slice of life stories. Focusing on women in France, many are very dark and the men are all mostly awful. I enjoyed the overall writing but I don't think any of these stories will really stick with me for too long. I do love that each story focuses on different "working women" a gas station attendant, a housekeeper, a hair washer. All had a bit of darkness and violence to them.
pickThis was a low pick for me. Bourdouxhe was a writer in France prior to and after WWII. Most of these stories focus on the experience of women around this time. I found there were a few stories that really grabbed my interest, and a few that didn‘t (not unlike a lot of short story collections). I am really enjoying diversifying and reading more in translation and non-contemporary works.
Like @TheAromaofBooks I might have a Book Outlet problem. 🙈 All purchased before 2024... Because this year, I'm serious about the book buying ban. 🤪
"Your hands and your eyes, sparkling in the shadow of the terrestrial night and in the shadow of our hearts, were saying, 'You are still alive,' and that 'still' contained a whole future of nothingness, so that 'You are still alive' meant, very precisely, 'You are already dead.'"
-"Leah"
pickA collection of stories by Belgian writer Bourdouxhe, translated from the French by Faith Evans. I'm not sure how to review this book; it's a series of small, crystalline gems with a razor sharp yet compassionate lens on the interior lives of working-class women. Bourdouxhe studied philosophy & wrote this after the Nazis came to power & accordingly these stories are heavy in thought & mood, less on plot. Reminds me of Clarice Lispector. #WITmonth
A Nail, a Rose | 
