Peach Cobbler by Deesha Philyaw, 2022
The magic trick:
Using a key quote/moment in the story to frame the narrator’s coming-of-age arc
If you want to make a list of best stories of the century so far, “Peach Cobbler” probably should be near the top.
Yes, it’s that good.
It covers 11 years in the childhood of Olivia, our narrator, and every second is 100 percent believable; every transition to different stages of life is handled perfectly with each character changing slightly but maintaining their essential selves.
The story shows you many comparisons and contradictions but never goes about pointing them out in an obvious way. This is a story that very much trusts its readers to pay close attention and stay thoughtful. Every detail matters.
I’ll highlight one of these key points for magic trick purposes. Early in the story, Olivia’s mom has a surprisingly harsh reaction to a request to attend a birthday party. She doesn’t want her daughter to see the nice things at someone else’s house; someone else whose parents have more money.
She says, “She get a taste of that sweetness, she’s going to want it so bad, she’ll grow up and settle for crumbs of it.”
It’s the kind of quote that jumps off the page. Even early in the story, the reader recognizes this as an overarching life philosophy for the mother character and, therefore, a key theme in this story.
It’s a great lens through which to read the rest of the story and see how Olivia’s growth as a more independent young adult confirms this philosophy, contradicts it, and, ultimately, is sabotaged by it.
Great, great story. Among the best coming-of-age stories I’ve ever read.
And that’s quite a trick on Philyaw’s part.
The selection:
Pastor Neely didn’t say anything. He just took another bite of cobbler and shook his head.
“And besides…” my mother said, “I’m trying to raise her to be satisfied with what she has. I know that lil girl Latasha’s mom and her daddy. Went to school with them. They’ve always been flashy, like to show off. He used to drive her around in his daddy’s Lincoln until his daddy bought him a Mustang. At sixteen years old. They got money and all that come with it. So you know Latasha don’t want fo nothing and that birthday party is going to be over the top.”
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