The New Yorker: "Someone" by Alice McDermott

January 30, 2012: "Someone"by Alice McDermott
In the Q&Awith Alice McDermott, we learn that this "story" is taken from her novel inprogress, which, presumably, is the one the contributor notes tell us is comingout later this year.  Even so, it seemsto work very well as a standalone story. It centers on Marie, a young woman inBrooklyn in the 1930s, who begins dating Walter, a man who walks with a limp.They begin to date—Marie's clueless and Walter imposes himself on her—butthings don't work out.
Early in the story we know Marie doesn't end up with Walterbecause she jumps ahead to the point in time where she tells her daughtersstories about Walter, to the point that they're sick of hearing about him.Presumably, in the novel, that's an important element. In this excerpt we alsosee Marie's older brother who has recently resigned the priesthood and movedhome. He tries to comfort her after Walter breaks up with her, but he doesn'tdo a very good job of it.
The writing is beautiful, as we might expect from McDermott.And for a "short story," there's enough plot. I sure hope more is going tohappen in the novel, though, because feels like it might be a bit slow. EvenMcDermott, in the interview, worries about it being a "novel about anunremarkable woman," and I think she's right to worry. But she's been therebefore and won the National Book Award, so maybe we're both wrong.