Bartow Station by Jamel Brinkley, 2023
The magic trick:
Blending story and setting
This one reminds me a little bit of a Karen Russell story, the way the settings are so evocative you can almost imagine that they came first for the writer before the plot or even the characters. Like the author thought OK, I love this place; this place is special; I want to write a story set in this place; what do I want to happen there?
In the case of “Bartow Station,” Brinkley has his characters exploring street murals in Brooklyn, crawling down manholes to tour the first subway tunnel in America, and finally meeting life-changing events at the titular Bartow Station, an abandoned train station in the Bronx.
It’s all very romantic in its way. But it’s all used very well as the central elements ot the story. These characters are on the brink of romance – love for each other, access to a larger world of art and ideas. But they’re also confined by history and personal barriers.
It’s a deep story, told with an excellent blend of story and setting.
And that’s quite a trick on Brinkley’s part.
The selection:
A bit later, we pass another mural that catches my eye: the wings of an angel stark against a field of sapphire blue. Zoelle notices me staring at it. As we stand there, a white girl poses between the wings for her friend. “You next,” Zoelle says. “Go on, I’ll take a picture.”
The fact is, the mural bothers me. The human scale of it. My mind prefers to imagine angels differently, poised much larger, with fiery eyes and multiple wings. Like seraphim, closer to the horror and magnitude of a god.
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