Margaret Lives in the Basement: StoriesMichelle Berry has one of the most darkly playful and unique voices in Canadian literature and her second collection of short stories, Margaret Lives in the Basement is no exception. At its heart are characters full of longing, trapped by circumstance and unable to reach out or connect with one another. Whether it's Margaret in the basement and her neighbours above, or two couples working out their family melodramas over dinner, there is always the presence of others but rarely a connection between them. By twists and turns Berry subverts what we know to be normal and arrives at something, though strange, more real than we like to admit. |
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Page 57
... hands . She looks at the shape of her hands , their width , the chubbiness of her fingers . She puts these hands up over her eyes and she pushes on the lids until they hurt . Margaret groans so loudly that Harold upstairs hears her and ...
... hands . She looks at the shape of her hands , their width , the chubbiness of her fingers . She puts these hands up over her eyes and she pushes on the lids until they hurt . Margaret groans so loudly that Harold upstairs hears her and ...
Page 100
... hand . " I just moved it around . The dust is still everywhere . " She puts the hose down and places her hands over her eyes . " I can't stand this . I can't understand where it's coming from . ” Don sits on the couch and watches TV ...
... hand . " I just moved it around . The dust is still everywhere . " She puts the hose down and places her hands over her eyes . " I can't stand this . I can't understand where it's coming from . ” Don sits on the couch and watches TV ...
Page 136
... hands , honey . Do the dishes , honey . Give Michael the remote control , honey . Do what Michael tells you to do ... hand . Amy gingerly takes her hand and shakes it . It is cold and small , the long nails catch on Amy's watch and ...
... hands , honey . Do the dishes , honey . Give Michael the remote control , honey . Do what Michael tells you to do ... hand . Amy gingerly takes her hand and shakes it . It is cold and small , the long nails catch on Amy's watch and ...
Contents
The Woodshed | 17 |
Margaret Lives in the Basement | 39 |
Burning Builds Character | 75 |
Copyright | |
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air conditioner Amy's apartment asks baby basement bathing suit bathroom beach beer belly Bert Beth Betty body breasts breath chair champagne flute clean close comes Conner crazy Darla Darlene dead door Doug drink duck dust egg timer Elaine Emily everything eyes face feels finger front giggles gin and tonic hair hands Harold Harry head hear heat honey imagine Irene Jake Kelly kids kitchen laughs legs Lincoln looks Maisey says Maisey thinks Margaret says Mark McGregor Melissa motel mother mouth move mozzarella sticks never Niagara Falls nice Peter pool porch pulls pushes Randy Randy's rice noodles Rosemary thinks Sarah shakes sips sits smell smiles someone stands stares Stephanie says stops suddenly talk tan lines tanning booth Tara tell There's thing touch tries turns Tweezle voice walks watches What's whispers wife Wilbur window wonders