Beach Town by Amy Hempel, 2005
The magic trick:
A story that becomes richer even as it becomes cheaper (through the use of a nosey neighbor narrator)
It’s a simple trick here today – but one that elevates an otherwise simple story. Rather than telling the fairly pedestrian story of a crumbling marriage through omniscient narration, we get the narrative through the eyes of a neighbor, eavesdropping on the couple from next door.
Now we are balancing our thoughts about the couple next door with our consideration of why our narrator feels so compelled to take an interest in their lives.
The story becomes richer even as it becomes cheaper somehow.
And that’s quite a trick on Hempel’s part.
The selection:
The house next door was rented for the summer to a couple who swore at missed croquet shots. Their music at night was loud, and I liked it; it was not music I knew. Mornings, I picked up empties they had lobbed across the hedge, Coronas with the limes wedged inside, and pitched them back over. We had not introduced ourselves these three months.
Between our houses a tall privet hedge is backed by white pine for privacy in winter. The day I heard the voice of a woman not the wife, I went out pack to a spot more heavily planted but with a break I could just see through.
As always, join the conversation in the comments section below, on SSMT Facebook or on Twitter @ShortStoryMT.
Subscribe to the Short Story Magic Tricks Monthly Newsletter to get the latest short story news, contests and fun.
Short Story Magic Tricks 