The Unexpected Intervention of Grace
Where There Are Two or More by Elizabeth Genovise
Posing Nude for the Saints: Stories by Elizabeth Genovise
Palindrome: Stories by Elizabeth Genovise
Short stories are my preferred genre. I am intrigued by how authors manage to create a believable family or subculture in the matter of a few pages. Occasionally I am stunned by my resemblance to a deeply flawed character in a story —like Sheppard in “The Lame Shall Enter First” or Asbury in “The Enduring Chill,” both by Flannery O’Connor. More commonly, however, I find that well-crafted short stories can give genuine insight: first, into how other people think, and second, into the invisible and unexpected intervention of grace.
One outstanding author whose characters experience this grace is Elizabeth Genovise, an award-winning writer whose stories have appeared in Plough, Cimarron Review, The Southern Review, and other journals. A resident of Knoxville, Tennessee, she has written four volumes of short stories. One of her stories, “Level,” has been made into an award-winning short film. She has not, however, received the acclaim she deserves, and I would like to do my part to rectify that.
Startling Openings
Genovise’s stories are populated with flawed, misguided, and unattractive characters. They have been scarred by losses, make unwise decisions, drink too much, and say hurtful and untrue things to each other. She does not attempt to heal their wounds or resolve their conflicts. Nevertheless, there is a redemptive quality in her writing that is a sign of hope, an unexpected but believable ray of light in an impossibly hopeless situation.
One of her favorite techniques is to open her stories with a stunning announcement:
She shot her husband point-blank between the eyes fifteen minutes after she found their four-year-old son drowned in a tub full of tepid water. (“September Dance” in Where There Are Two or More.)
I am eight weeks in the womb and my life is forfeit. (“Irises” in Posing Nude for the Saints.)
The corn dreams have been coming to Matthew since the year his cousin Josiah shot himself. (“Into the Fields” in Palindrome.)
John Thompson is a librarian and professor at Waynesburg University, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
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