Review: Katy Carl's Fragile Objects

It has been a while since I read a collection of short stories as captivating as Fragile Objects by Katy Carl.  The first and title story draws you into the inner life of a child, Bub, as he watches his father navigate the complexities of caring for his aging mother. Bub watches everything but has stopped asking questions,  “he had not stopped having questions; he had just stopped asking them. Adult talk of souls put a stop to children's questions, either by spreading wishful vagueness or inducing deliberate terror.” Carl knows how children think, in fact, she understands the inner complexities of the minds of her characters who are completely different from one another.  The title story ends in such a surprising and jarring manner, that it stays with you. They all do.

Each of the stories end in odd, often, often violent ways much like Flannery O’Connor’s stories.  O’Connor said she used violence as a way “of returning [her] characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace.” There is a sense of that opening for grace in Carl’s collection as well.  These are not tidy stories.  They are complicated and messy much like real life.  What shines through is Carl’s love for each of these characters and the tender gift of grace waiting for these characters in their last moments.  

Purchase the Fragile Objects here

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