Flotsam by Diane Cook, 2013
The magic trick:
Coating a complicated set of concerns in what seems to be a whimsical plot
D is for Diane.
In “Flotsam,” the narrator deals with a mystery that on the surface feels whimsical, maybe even funny. Children’s clothes keep showing up in her laundry. But as you go on, you see that this whimsical mystery is in fact representative of a very complicated, potentially dark, set of worries.
And that’s quite a trick on Cook’s part.
The selection:
Next, a small pumpkin-colored t-shirt appears in the dryer, the name Billy stitched in blue thread across the tiny chest. The neck is so small she cannot get her head through. Could it have shrunk, too?
“Is this yours?” She holds it up for the man eating a Pop Tart at her table, who studies the shirt from his chair.
“No,” he says finally. “My name is John.”
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