Sharon Bially's Blog, page 3
November 22, 2011
17.2 – Elbow Room
(Continued from Chapter 17.1 – April Fool; to start book, scroll to "Chapters" in right side bar.) She should have guessed the kids missed Shabbat. It's been woven into the fabric of their lives as tightly as bedtime stories and baths. Back in Aix, they'd whoop with joy whenever she announced on Friday afternoons that it was time to put the candles on the table. When she lit them, they'd gape, mesmerized, at the luminous white and amber patches flickering on the walls. They'd ask repeatedly ...
November 17, 2011
17.1 – April Fool
(Continued from Chapter 16.3 – Hook, Line & Sinker; to start book, scroll to "Chapters" in right side bar.) On April Fool's Day it rains and then snows and then rains again. The walls of Rich and Shirley's house clamp down like the sides of an enormous vice, squeezing the breath from Veronica's lungs. She's rummaged through the bin of DVDs in search of a movie she can watch with Luc and Céleste, one they haven't all seen a hundred times, but the sickeningly familiar characters and cartoonish ...
November 8, 2011
16.3 – Hook, Line & Sinker
(Continued from Chapter 16.2 – Chic; to start book, scroll to "Chapters" in right side bar.) "Idiot!" Veronica shouts to herself, sitting in the bumper-to-bumper traffic clogging the Hudson River Parkway. She bangs the steering wheel until her fists ache and lets tears stream down her cheeks, safe in the isolation of her car.
Lunch ended abruptly, with Terry checking her watch and announcing that she had a meeting to race off to. She gave Veronica a circumspect peck on the cheek and then...
November 2, 2011
16.2 – Chic
(Continued from Chapter 16.1 – Steel Silhouette; to start book, scroll to "Chapters" in right side bar.) "Look at you!" Veronica gushes, squeezing her and then giving her an exaggerated once-over. Terry's always had an all-black wardrobe, but now, instead of the turtlenecks and pleated pants she used to wear to work, she has on a silk blouse unbuttoned to the cleavage and a tight, hip-hugging skirt. "You're so … chic! Ohh là là. I can't get over it!"
"Yeah, well. The office uniform." Her...
October 27, 2011
Favorite Kids: Really?
Time Magazine's October 5 cover story, "Why Mom Liked You Best," claims that nearly every parent has a favorite kid. And that parents who deny this are lying through their teeth.
Is anybody else insulted?
Aside from making sweeping generalizations like "If you absolutely must have a favorite (and you must)," the story tosses around phrases such as "best-loved" that completely underestimate parents' ability to sift through the nuances of their emotions.
As a mother, daughter, sister, friend and ...
October 24, 2011
16.1 – Steel Silhouette
(Continued from Chapter 15.2 – Neverland; to start book, scroll to "Chapters" in right side bar.) What a relief it is to have some time away from the kids, Veronica thinks as she drives into Manhattan to meet Terry for lunch. Earlier this morning, day twelve in Tenafly, Céleste woke her by waving colored popsicle sticks in her face and demanding that she help her glue them together into a castle right away. Veronica wanted to snap the sticks in half. Luc followed her around as she showered a...
October 19, 2011
15.2 – Neverland
(Continued from Chapter 15.1 – New Jersey Honeymoon; to start book, scroll to "Chapters" in right side bar.) While she peered down at the gash where the World Trade Center used to stand as the plane commenced its descent into Newark, she recalled the day five years ago when Didier had dropped everything and caught a last-minute flight to New Jersey to talk her out of canceling the wedding. She understood now what he must have gone through that day: how devastating, how disconcerting, it must ...
October 17, 2011
Announcing Reader Unboxed
Tired of the same old take on books and book reviews?
Interested in hearing an *unboxed* perpspective?
Then swing by Reader Unboxed, the brand-spanking-new sister site of the wildly popular blog Writer Unboxed.
With a focus on *unboxed* fiction — that is, fresh works that bring something new to the table — and on the writers and publishers who have the courage to push boundaries, Reader Unboxed offers a community connecting readers with thoughtful book reviews.
As a huge proponent of pushing...
October 12, 2011
15 – New Jersey Honeymoon
(Continued from Chapter 14 – Where France Meets the Middle East; To start book, scroll to "Chapters" in right side bar.) Garlands of blinking holiday lights left over from Christmas perk up the gray skeletons of New Jersey's oak and maple trees in March, adding a dapper flare to evenings when the sun sets at five. Shiny new vehicles with seating for eight stream down highways, their sleek, metallic silhouettes effacing endless miles of cracked asphalt. Yards, hard and brown as frozen...
15.1 – New Jersey Honeymoon
(Continued from Chapter 14 – Where France Meets the Middle East; To start book, scroll to "Chapters" in right side bar.) Garlands of blinking holiday lights left over from Christmas perk up the gray skeletons of New Jersey's oak and maple trees in March, adding a dapper flare to evenings when the sun sets at five. Shiny new vehicles with seating for eight stream down highways, their sleek, metallic silhouettes effacing endless miles of cracked asphalt. Yards, hard and brown as frozen...
