Casey Plett's second collection, after A Safe Girl to Love and the novel Little Fish--both Lambda Award winners--once again features a spectrum of experiences lived by transgender women, from exhilarating to soul-crushing and all the quotidian moments in between. Among the exceptional dozen stories here, five stand alone, two are titled "Couldn't Hear You Talk Anymore," and five create the novella-esque "Obsolution." Plett presents none of the interlinked titles consecutively, as if reminding readers that life can be full of interruptions, more so for those outside the so-called mainstream.
Plett opens with "Hazel & Christopher"--the collection's most poignant--about two childhood friends who lose one another too early. Decades later, Hazel, having survived addiction and prostitution, finds Christopher, but their happily-ever-after reunion doesn't seem meant to be. Romance turns (a bit) hopeful in "Enough Trouble," when Gemma arrives at Ava's with nowhere to go, desperate to stay. The two-part "Couldn't Hear You Talk Anymore" reveals Tiana's post-surgery experiences, both excessive and mundane. "Obsolution" is undoubtedly the collection's highlight, following David's unsettled, searching decades--with and without Iris.
Plett crisscrosses borders and coasts, moving with her peripatetic characters through the Pacific Northwest, New York, and various towns and provinces in her home country, Canada. Biographical overlaps with numerous characters clearly imbue Plett's writing with urgent authenticity: beyond being transgender (Plett documented her transition in the column "Balls Out" for McSweeney's Internet Tendency), she shares geographies and career similarities. What proves most resonant for readers is the universality of the challenges her fictional women encounter--battling addictions, debilitating loneliness, impetuous connections, that elusive search for a lasting welcome home. --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon