Under The Boardwalk by Jayne Anne Phillips, 1979
The magic trick:
Presenting a character with a combination of romance and horror
Perhaps one of the bleakest stories I’ve read for this website. And that is saying something.
It’s a very short story. The protagonist is introduced to us with a sense of wonder. She has a bit of magic and romance to her. But quickly, that glow is diminished as the next two paragraphs describe the horrific reality of her homelife.
That combination of romance and horror is certainly memorable.
And that’s quite a trick on Phillips’s part.
The selection:
Daddy is a fire-and-brimstone preacher at the church out the dirt road. Music is the work of the devil that licks at her legs. She stands, radio pressed to her face, lips working. Undah the boardwalk, down by the sea ee ee ye eh eh, Ona blanket with my baybeh’s where I’ll be.
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