I have just reread this because it’s been nearly 10 years and once again it completely knocked me off my feet. Elizabeth McCracken is the first writer I’ve discovered on social media not through personal recommendation, but through just liking her so much. Her Twitter account has for years been a font of delight, affection and humour.
So it was a shock – albeit a pleasant one – to discover that McCracken’s short stories are mini-masterpieces of pain and love. Or rather, the pain that comes from love, but is assuaged by it.
The story ‘Thunderstruck’, which closes this volume, is a perfect example of this. It’s about an American family – wife, husband, two daughters – who travel to Paris and suffer a tragedy which reframes their entire existence. If you’re a parent, it describes your darkest fears, but also your most intense joys. Love and pain, in fact.
First published in Story Quarterly, collected in ‘Thunderstruck and Other Stories’, Random House 2014
A Personal Anthology 