Constancy, by Jacqueline T. Lynch

I purchased Constancy, by Jacqueline T. Lynch, at Amazon. I’m always on the lookout for good short stories or novellas.

Description:

A short story, 7, 800 words, humor. Constance leaves home, takes on the guardianship of a friend’s young daughter, and her own elderly grandmother, and a three-story apartment house. Emotional interruptions by her sometimes boyfriend in the Army have competition from the new man in her life — the electrician she calls to service her building. When he shows up in his Civil War reenactor’s Union Army uniform, Constance discovers that commitment to quality is a never ending battle.

Overall: 4 stars

Plot/storyline:  3 3/4 stars

I think one of the goals of a reviewer is to review based on what they believe the author wanted to accomplish and what a reader could reasonably expect. This means avoiding saying the book should be something the author never intended it to be.

What do you do though when you believe, with all your heart, that a story is one thing masquerading as another?

I had a Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) – heck, I’ve had several – that was quite un-Shetland Sheepdog-like. He was a mellow guy who rarely barked and liked life at a slower pace. Early on, I joked to my husband that Paddington was clearly a Bassett Hound that dressed as a Sheltie for Halloween – and the zipper got stuck.

I think Constancy is a novel that dressed as a short story for a masquerade ball and the zipper got stuck. Because it’s a bigger size than the costume it wears, it’s aching to be free, and the seams are straining.

There is so much there, so much richness, and it’s all crammed into too small of a space. The author tends to reel off these wonderful details, and then not elaborate on them because there’s no room. I felt out of breath keeping up with her jog when all I wanted was to say, “Wait! Wait! Slow Down! You’re not giving me a chance to see everything! Can’t we stop here for a second?” When she does linger, it’s wonderful. Her dialogue is so good! However, I don’t think a page went by when I wasn’t lamenting that it was, in my highly subjective opinion, the wrong length for all that it contained and all it easily could have contained.

I love short stories. I perhaps (not so) secretly love them as much as, if not more than, novels. I seek them out, I look for them, and I admire writers who do them well. I just don’t think  it was the right length this time around.

My complaint might be a quite annoying one for the author. Writers tend to know when they’re done. When a reader likes a story though, it’s not unusual for them to say that they wished it was longer, or that the characters will be revisited. Often, the story really is done, but the reader doesn’t want to let go. I really don’t think that was the case here though. (Of course, I WOULD say that!)

I wanted to spend more time with certain scenes or experiences. I wanted more elaboration about Constance’s relationship – romantic and otherwise. I wanted more time with her sisters – well, one of them.  I kept feeling like the story wanted to be all those things too.

Because the story is quick, struggles are mentioned, but also handled in a sentence or two.

I’m going to ask the author in her interview what genre she would consider this – I see a few at work –but I think that it’s most strongly romance along the lines of Kristan Higgans in combination with literary fiction There’s also the story here of a family with a domineering mother and how her three daughters, the heroine included, are shaped by her. And there’s the story of the heroine’s search for happiness and “substance.”

One of my favorite passages in this story is a conversation had between Constance and her mother in which the heroine shares a dream:

“You know, I had a dream once when I was a kid. I dreamed I was eating French fries, all covered in ketchup. They were hot and salty and looked really good. But every time I reached for one, and tried to put it in my mouth, it disappeared. I kept reaching for another one, and another one, but at the point I put them in my mouth, all I could taste were my fingers. And then I woke up. That’s what it’s like living with you, Mom. No substance. Only emptiness and constant wanting for something substantial. No ketchup, only fingers.”

The best and most honest thing I could say after my complaints on length is that, if the author put out a novel of this tomorrow, even though I’d know everything that would happen, I’d buy it at .99 or 2.99 – or more for that matter.

Characters: 4 stars

I liked Constance and most of the secondary characters. The ones I didn’t care for are the ones I think I was intended to feel that way toward. Clearly I’m going to harp on the recurrent theme and say I wish there’d been more time with them, and more elaboration. If I’m being honest, and that is why I’m here, Constance lapses into what is known as Mary Sue Syndrome – she is a little too wonderful and perfect and tucks in each night the child she is raising after a friend dies, as well as her grandmother. This made me roll my eyes now and again, but I still enjoyed the character.

If Constance is a little too perfect, her mother is a little too much of a witch. The same could be said for one of Constance’s sisters. In both cases, there was room for nuance and even sympathy, without them losing their status as pains in the rear, and I think that is a missed opportunity. And STILL I enjoyed the characters.

For readers who like their fictional love interests as slightly socially awkward and a tad geeky, there’s Randolph. I, for the record, like my fictional (and non-fictional) love interests slightly socially awkward and a tad geeky

At the end, there is an older couple sitting on their front porch and commenting on Constance and Randolph. They get just a couple lines and yet I would so read a novel, or a short story, about them as well.

Writing Style: 3 ¾ stars

Length issues aside, I liked much of Jacqueline T. Lynch’s style. Heck, it’s her skills that made me long for more and to lament the lines that didn’t become scenes. I think this needed perhaps another draft though. There are some repetitious passages and word usages. There’s also a sentence/paragraph that is forty plus words where the meaning felt like it might have slipped away from the author. Her writing is quite good, and I cared about the story and the people in the story, but it feels like it is just one thoughtful writing pass from being at that next level.

Editing: 4 stars

None of the issues are so bad that the story is significantly marred, but there are a couple missing words and some punctuation issues. It’s another reason why I think a careful read-through would have raised the quality a small, but still noticeable, amount.

Personal Enjoyment: 4 stars

Even though I’ve briefly mentioned once or ten times my issue with the length and the too fast pace, and even though I felt Constance needed more flaws, and that other characters could have uses some redemptive qualities, and even though I think a little more work on this story would have been best, I liked this story even more than the sum of its parts. I enjoyed reading it, and discussing it. And I think I might have found a new writer. (Keeping my fingers crossed.) I have every intention of reading one of Ms. Lynch’s novels in the near future.

Note: For the people who are interested in such matters, I would label this a clean read. A curse word is hinted at rather than typed outright, there is an implication that Constance slept with someone but it’s not described in any detail. Normally I’m of the more smut, please school, but the wholesomeness here didn’t traumatize me too much.

******************************************************

From the author, Jacqueline T. Lynch:

Could you tell me a little something about the inspiration or inspirations for Constancy? I sensed there might have been some autobiographical elements, but I could be way off.

I can remember writing the first draft for “Constancy” in a single afternoon (though revisions took more time).  The story is not autobiographical, except for the mention of Greer Garson and classic films being an influence on Constance and her foster child.  I am a classic film fan, and I write “Another Old Movie Blog” (http://anotheroldmovieblog.blogspot.com).  I also have an interest in the American Civil War, for which I’ve written articles for various regional and national publications, including Civil War Magazine, and North & South.  I have occasionally delivered talks to local historical societies on the Civil War and other historical subjects.

These two elements are foundations for the story, but there was no real-life model for Constance or her family, or her experiences.  It was just a case of a series of “what-ifs” that got strung together, which made writing the piece as entertaining for me as I hope it is the reader.

I felt there were different genres included here, including romance and literary fiction. What section of the book store would you want a print copy or ten to be filed under, and which two or three authors would you like next to you on the shelf?

I see it more as literary fiction, but I think it’s interesting when genres overlap.  Authors on the shelf?  I’d be happy to have any company on a bookstore shelf.  As with any party, I’m just happy to be there.  But I think as an illustration of the kind of books I write, and “Constancy” in particular, I’d say put me between David McCullough and William Martin – on one hand the objective historian, on the other hand, a writer who sees the innate romance in history and brings it to life through a series of entirely plausible “what-ifs?”

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was about 15.  I had been writing for years before that, stories and poems for my own amusement, but mostly copious notes on animals and things I observed.  It was as if I could make sense of what was going on around me if I wrote it down.  One day when I was about 14 I read some Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen, and decided to write my own mystery, mimicking as children will.  I don’t think I ever finished it, but the process was so fascinating, the struggle so emotional, that it blew me away and I decided I wanted to do that for the rest of my life.  It was only upon reflection I realized I had always been a writer, since the time I was very young and making up stories with toys and then on paper.  I just didn’t know it.  It was only another game I played.  I can be pretty obtuse sometimes.  Really, an anvil has to fall on my head.

What genre haven’t you explored that you might like to try your hand at in the future?

So far I’ve tried family saga, mystery, time-travel, literary, and humor.  Maybe a western.

Is there anything else that you’d like to share?

I appreciate this opportunity very much to introduce myself to your readers.

Constancy, by Jacquieline T. Lynch