In this post: An age-focused story about an older woman on the pursuit of a partner.
Category: Short Story Collection + Fast Fiction
Ramiah Recommended?
No.
To be honest, this story was interesting to read - as in, interesting paragraph to paragraph, - but I couldn't tell you what the story was about overall. For that reason, I cannot recommend it.
Let me back up and start by telling you some things I did notice about the story. We follow a woman named Joan through a few different ages in her life: 42, 27, and 34. Joan is a successful woman in her career, has a comfortable lifestyle, and part of which she likes to spend her time pursuing younger men. She doesn't really consider herself a 'cougar,' but the story focuses a good chunk on her fascination (for a lack of a better word) with Jack.
10 years her junior, Jack is exciting to Joan, but they never really have a relationship, just flirting and random invites to hang out at a Hampton party or something similar. They check in with each other every few months. Along that time, Jack starts dating Molly, a twenty-six-year-old. When he gets his quarterly invite from Joan right after he's prepared to propose to Molly, Jack thinks about leaving Molly for Joan. He decides against however and becomes a fiancee.
Joan is invited to their wedding, feeling old and remembering she is no longer 26. At the same time, we get a glimpse into Molly's mind, where she is thinking about a love interest she calls 'cowboy' whom she seems to have stronger emotions for than Jack.
...bored yet? Hahaha, I can best describe this story as a 'will they, won't they?' scenario. None of the characters are more interesting than how I describe them above.
What makes this story have a semblance of interest is the themes it can represent, though none of these themes are called out in the story very clearly.
This story could be about the pursuit of love (or lack thereof) and its relationship with age. As someone gets older, especially women, there's this pressure to settle down and have a family and a sense that time for true love is running out. Joan is pursuing a younger man, who is pursuing a younger woman. Along the lines of what love means are the questions of what it means to be desirable. Can only younger people find love? Joan says "twenty-six is the "perfect age to be engaged for a girl." Is there really a perfect age for marriage?
This story also had an interesting theme of dreams vs reality - being with someone you love (the dream, Joan having Jake) versus making the most of not having them (reality, Joan trying to create hangouts just to spend time with Jake). Even more, there is the challenge of desirability - the woman desiring the man.
Read for yourself here and let me know if you feel the same!
Ramiah Reflects
Questions to Ask Yourself (and answer!):
Is there a perfect age to be married?
Ramiah's Re-read When
Re-read when:
You want a short story
You are interested in the questions of desirability and who is desirable
You want a story focused on age
See below for my book notes:
(No notes this time, folks!)
Check out my other posts and book notes here.
Until next time!
Montana Houston
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