The Anachronism by Maeve Brennan, 1954
The magic trick:
Brilliant, concise character observation
Like yesterday’s Herbert’s Retreat feature, “The View From The Kitchen,” “The Anachronism” builds its story around an elaborate joke. And that’s fine. It is pretty funny. But the standout here is Brennan’s trademark pinpoint character observation.
Consider the way she describes the nature of Liza’s relationship with her mother:
“Liza and Mrs. Conroy detested each other, but it suited them to live together – Liza because she enjoyed showing her power, and Mrs. Conroy because she was waiting for her day of vengeance.”
That’s two lives given a vivid picture in one (admittedly complicated) sentence.
And that’s quite a trick on Brennan’s part.
The selection:
Early one October, Liza received a telephone call that disturbed her very much. The call was from Clara Longacre, who invited her to drop over for bridge the same afternoon. Clara, at thirty, was the recognized social leader at the Retreat – merely because, Liza often thought viciously, of having grown up there. Clara’s natural sense of superiority made it impossible for her to doubt herself. She knew she was better than anybody else. She was untouchable. Liza longed more than anything in the world to impress Clara, to deprive her, even if it was only for a minute, of her eternal self-satisfaction. Sometimes she lay awake in bed and gritted her teeth in the struggle to bring forth some scheme that would crack that natural armor.
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