My Review of Whatever Happens, Probably Will by John W. MacIlroy

This review originally appeared on Focus on Fiction.

Among the many quotes I have saved on short stories, this one by Will Self stays in my mind: “A short story is a shard, a sliver, a vignette…”

It's a description of this literary form that also perfectly describes the stories in Whatever Happens, Probably Will by John W. MacIlroy.

Start with the first story in the collection: “The Painting.” Just a story about a man following his wife’s directions on how to hang a painting and yet…

Each story, whether it’s set in a New England factory town, a cemetery or a courtroom, drops the reader into the setting just long enough to eavesdrop on what’s being said—or sometimes, not being said.

There is the element of the unexpected, which is what life is like. We think we know what’s going to happen, but then something shifts, something changes. Or maybe it isn’t so much that it changes as we become more aware of what the story is behind the words and actions.

MacIlroy’s collection runs the emotional gamut from lighthearted to tender to heartbreaking. Each story is beautifully written with no extraneous words, no unnecessary details—just enough to make you feel like you have been there, witnessing what transpired. And when you get to the end of each, you are left with the sense that a door has closed, but only just barely, that if you push on it, you can re-enter that particular world and find out more about what the characters are doing or saying or feeling.

But only if they let you.