When is a short story not a short story? When it is part of a novel. Except Gavron’s Acre is made from dozens of short pieces, some not even stories: poems, marginalia, court documents, cartoons – every possible genre is tapped to describe the imagined history of Brick Lane in East London. ‘Lull’s Wirth’ is a tale of a simple life lived in a time of danger and betrayal, and the fatal decision to travel in search of a smith to mend a broken scythe. I remembered it particularly for the side purchase of some medicine to ease the painful joints of the main character’s wife – such a casually loving moment – I forgot that it was this transaction that brings trouble.
First published as part of An Acre of Barren Ground, Scribner, 2005
A Personal Anthology 