Feather Girls by Claire Massey, 2010
The magic trick:
Introducing magical realism through social commentary
“Feather Girls,” like many a modern story, turns on a twist of magical realism.
This one introduces its magic in a smooth way, though. It all plays off an old-fashioned cliché – “You have to catch their coats whilst they were young.” – layered with sexism.
That it isn’t immediately recognizable as a nod toward something odd or surrealistic is itself the story’s comment on such clichés and the sexist culture that propagates them.
And that’s quite a trick on Massey’s part.
The selection:
A collection of regulars cluttered the bar, all grey haired men a similar age to him. He knew many of them had caught themselves feather girls. On summer evenings when they were lads they would gather beside the lake and try to gain favour by lobbing in the biggest pieces of bread. Home baked worked best. His cousin Johnny had walloped a whole loaf in once but that had backfired when a greedy girl near choked on it. He married her though. Eileen she took as her name.
He handed Mary the exact change and carried the drinks and crisps over to the table. It wasn’t like her to be late. He placed the glasses on the already sodden beer mats and shook a dribble of mild from his fingers. The fire wasn’t lit. Mary was stingy with the coal, still too early in the year for a fire whatever the chill in the air said.
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