Lanagan, Margo: Singing My Sister Down
"Singing My Sister Down"
Black Juice
Writer: Margo Lanagan
Genre: Fantasy/Short Story
Every year, the Odyssey Writer's Workshop holds a week-long workshop for its alums called "The Never-Ending Odyssey", aka, TNEO. I didn't to go this year, but friends of mine did, and digitalclone passed along some short stories I should check out, this being the most praised of all of them.
I loved the situation. And for a short story, it's beautifully constructed. You get the information as you need it, and while you have questions, you never get any more than you need to know. A great lesson in avoiding the info-dump, in my opinion. Lanagan zeroes in on the tight emotion of this piece, which centers around a prisoner, her family, and a tar pit. I don't want to say any more, cause I don't want to ruin it for anyone.
I labeled this as fantasy, but there's no magic involved. Genre-wise, I don't think the label's all that important--the story itself is. Lanagan definitely got my attention with this piece, so I may be checking out more of her work one day. An easy voice, compelling situation, and a story with a lot of heart. Definitely worth reading.