In Envy Country (Richard Sullivan Prize in Short Fiction)

In Envy Country is one of fifteen or so books that I read this past summer, and it remains for me, several weeks after having finished it, the book that I keep thinking about. Frank's stories are all so engaging - they invite you to inhabit a consciousness that is both wise and sympathetic, and along with this wisdom and sympathy, there is a darkly comic sensibility (and a wonderfully mischievous eye) - whether Frank is observing a wealthy couple's marriage falling apart in the title story, or a woman with a...special talent for bodily concealment - it's hard not to feel that you've been invited to a country where you might like to stay, at least to learn more about its flawed and memorable inhabitants. This is a collection to savor and then...after a few weeks...to savor again.

I often find myself frustrated by short stories since the format tends to prohibit the kind of in-depth, rounded characters that I look for when I read. Joan Frank, however, manages to make me rethink the genre. In Envy Country is a collection of stories, all fully independent from one another (vs. the overlapping characters/story-lines favored in recent years).Many of the stories look at women and their relationships. In addition to the more common focus on relations between men and women, many of Frank's pieces examine relationships between women -- A college-aged woman watching an older woman interact at a dinner party; A woman reflecting on her step-sister's teen years; A story narrated by a woman recalling a female coworker; and Two women talking about the unexpected twists in the life of a girl who'd been popular in school.There is also a heavy emphasis on perception such as one story in which a woman watches a picture-perfect couple fight and another involving a woman telling a story about how differently men and women reacted to a very well-endowed. I particularly enjoyed this element of the collection, especially the clear recognition of the paradox (not quite the right word) of writing/reading stories about observation.I enjoyed this collection. There were a few pieces I could leave, but I suppose the beauty of short stories is that those end soon. Overall, I enjoyed Frank's clear voice and the depth of emotion and strength of character contained in the stories. Four stars (of five).