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Separate Kingdoms: Stories (2011)

by Valerie Laken(Favorite Author)

3.76 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0060840943 (ISBN13: 9780060840945)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Harper Perennial

review 1: Separate Kingdoms by Valerie Laken is a collection of eight short stories, three of which take place in Russia and the remaining five which take place in the United States. Although the stories are unrelated, Laken shows the distinct differences between these two 'kingdoms' and different aspects of living in each country is explored throughout the collection. Many of the characters in Laken's writing are somehow damaged, there is a boy who is blind, a man who looses his thumbs, and a woman who has had her leg amputated. Even those who are not physically impaired often have another barrier to overcome, for example a lesbian couple looking to adopt a child. None of the characters in Separate Kingdoms are perfect, instead they are all human.Laken's writing is quiet yet satisf... moreying and her perceptive way of looking at the word is both appealing and bleak. Although many of her stories end without a clear resolution, they manage to feel complete, each one a distinct moment in time. In "Family Planning" two women travel from the United States to Russia to adopt a child, but as same-sex adoptions are not allowed they must pretend to only be friends. When they arrive, they find there is a second child also available and they must choose between the two children and decided which one to take home. Each woman wants a different child, and the decision they are forced to make is heartbreaking. In the story, Laken writes "A family was a thing that stretched out beyond where you left off, made meaning of you." This is a perfect summary for the collection, which is full of Laken looking into ordinary lives and making meaning out of ordinary moments.The characters in the collection are troubled and confused, and the premise behind the stories is frequently an unhappy one. Ultimately, Separate Kingdoms is a strong and memorable collection because of the realistic ordinary darkness it contains and Laken's strong and beautiful voice does an incredible job of telling these stories.
review 2: He turned his head from side to side, trying to shake the idea away. “What on earth is the matter with you? With us?”Bridge laughed. “Nothing. This is just living.”***********************************************************“Just living” isn’t the easiest thing in the kingdoms of Valerie Laken. In her psychologically engrossing short story collection, there is always that gaping divide: between countries, cultures, or lovers, or even that schism within ourselves.In one of the most engrossing of the stories, Family Planning, a gay couple – Meg and Josie – travel to Russia to adopt a baby, and are suddenly faced with a choice: the little boy they had expected to bring home or an unknown baby girl. And Josie realizes in a flash, “Someone had to give sooner or later. That was how families and lovers everywhere functioned. It was not just a business thing, it was a kindness people gave to those they loved.”In another story, Remedies, Nick gets into a car accident as a result of losing small spells of time. “I’ll be going along like a regular person and then poof. It’s like the world has jumped ahead of me by a couple of minutes.” The future, the past, a vision of the flattest, basest reality all merge for him.And then there’s Before Long, another story in which a twelve year old blind boy named Anton briefly leaves his orderly and idyllic village life to visit a new American dentist and discovers, “There was no one anywhere, not even the foreigners, who could fix this.”Perhaps, though, the most inventive of the stories is the titled story, where a family strives to communicate after Colt – the father – loses his thumbs and his livelihood after he sabotages a machine at work. Ms. Lakin relies on a gimmick: a two-column, split-screen format to show the father’s viewpoint…and his young son Jack’s thoughts.While disconcerting at first, the conceit actually works: the reader can visually see the schism caused by lack of communication and connection and the deep divide that ensues. Colt has confined himself to a “reject room”; his son, Jack, is yearning for connection, at least with his classmates. As Colt is confronted by his former boss (on one side of the screen), Jack is drowning out the sounds with his drum-playing (Guh Duh Guh Guh Duh.) And, as Colt cries out, “I am not one of you!” at the retreating back of the lawyer, Jack is indeed trying to be “one of you” by taping his thumbs back to experience what his father is going through. It is indeed powerful.Ultimately, Valerie Laken – a Pushcart Prize-winning author – focuses her attention on the connections we need to make us whole by reaching out beyond our self-imposed borders. It’s a laudable achievement. less

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