A review by suncoyote
Half in Love by Maile Meloy
3.0
Meloy makes me brave about my own writing. She writes elegant single scenes that contain a whole world's worth of story just under the surface. Somebody told me once that single-scene stories never get published and I wish I'd known about Meloy back then--because she does it so well. I had to return to the book to the library, so apologies for not naming the specific story here, but she tells one story about a couple that goes to ask a man if they can have some sheet rock from his property. In that single scene you begin to understand everything about the couple, the world they live in and an inkling of the type of man they are visiting.
Meloy generally employs a rather distant narrator who sees all of the characters at once--if memory serves correctly, she employes third-person narrator almost exclusively. Sometimes I wanted a bit more emotional intensity in the stories, swooping us in to first person or just a close narrator. My heart doesn't get wrung out by her stories, but believe me, her writing will engage you intellectually and your senses will be rewarded by her skill.
Meloy generally employs a rather distant narrator who sees all of the characters at once--if memory serves correctly, she employes third-person narrator almost exclusively. Sometimes I wanted a bit more emotional intensity in the stories, swooping us in to first person or just a close narrator. My heart doesn't get wrung out by her stories, but believe me, her writing will engage you intellectually and your senses will be rewarded by her skill.