‘The Bride’ by Maeve Brennan

The Bride by Maeve Brennan, 1953

The magic trick:

Giving a surface plot depth with backstory

I love this story. We see Margaret, having second thoughts the night before her wedding. Some of it is familiar territory. Does she really love this man? Is it more of a marriage of convenience? Is it even all that convenient for her?

But, the plot thickens when the plot takes us back in time and across the Atlantic back to Margaret’s family life in Ireland. We get a picture of what has motivated her to this point, her perceived place in her family, the relationship/rivalry with her sister.

When we return to the wedding doubts drama, it is not a surface-level consideration anymore for the reader. We now have all of this backstory to fill in our interpretations and sympathies.

And that’s quite a trick on Brennan’s part.

The selection:

“Next thing little Margaret will be leaving me,” cried the mother, and Margaret had darted to her mother’s side and protested that no, no, she would never leave, and the neighbors nodded approvingly and said that was a good daughter, that one. Still, good daughter and all, it was Madge who was the favorite, and when, after a year, Madge decided to economize by moving back into her old home, Margaret felt very out of place with the perpetual fuss over Madge’s baby and Madge’s husband and Madge’s aches and pains.

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