Review of Emergency by Kathleen Alcott

*Emergency* by Kathleen Alcott (2023). Published by W. W. Norton & Company.

One of my favorite things to read as of late are short story collections. I know some people rather be immersed in the language and world building of a novel and so they shy away from short stories, but I think there’s so much to learn about craft and the mechanics of writing when it comes to examining how a short story is made and told.

They often get everything they need to get across in a very short amount of time, leading to us, as readers, to get sucked inside of it for a short time. It’s a perfect way to tell a story sometimes, as they don’t need entire novels.

Kathleen Alcott’s Emergency was gifted to me in advance of the collection’s release in July 2023 through the publisher, HarperCollins, and NetGalley.

I particularly love short stories that offer perspectives on women and their experiences, and this is the short story collection that ends up dwelling on the lives of women mainly. From a protagonist who sees her mother’s portrait inside a museum to a someone who moves to a completely new place with a partner and discovers something about them, these stories cover wide ground.

Onwards with the review!

A short story collection that dives deep into the crevices of American life and the women in it.

In Emergency, there are only seven short stories contained within the collection, but I think each of them packs a unique punch when it comes to it. I had the advanced proof that was a Kindle PDF, which was hard to distinguish where one ended and another started at times, but I’m sure the final copy will look a lot nicer than what I had.

I think something important to note when approaching stories like these is that good literature doesn’t entail that you agree with the protagonist and think they’re such an awesome person. Some of the main characters in these stories are deeply flawed and you shouldn’t agree with their actions and words, but it doesn’t mean the story isn’t bad.

As mentioned before, women are the focus in each of these stories. Whether the protagonist is reflecting upon her life and the decisions that led her to where she is today, or heading out to rural California and getting hit on by the local mechanic, each story offers a different theme.

They’re all interconnected at the end of the day, as guilt reappears a lot through these stories, as does the concept of having to reflect upon one’s life and the people in it in a philosophical way. The pandemic even makes an appearance for one couple that’s been together for forty years, although their relationship seems a bit rocky.

I don’t see the point of recalling the plot of every story in this collection, but I think narrowing down the focus and only including seven stories was such a brilliant idea.

Each of the short stories included can hold their own weight when it comes to it at the end of the day, and I think at least half of them most readers would like as they pick up their copy. There’s some eye opening revelation that come throughout reading, and although I read this on a flight with my Kindle glued to my hand, lest the turbulence take it away to the floor, I think that someone would definitely have a moment where they put their book down and think about what they just read.

So often we don’t get the raw, honest perspective of women like this, which is why I enjoyed the collection so much. There was poverty, addiction, and the sorrow one gets when looking back on their past and decisions permeating throughout, and while I think these stories might not be directly relatable, there are elements most women can spot from their own lives.

One might find these stories as pretty slow moving as well, as there’s not much action or conflict throughout. Quite a bit is internal conflict, which some may not find their cup of tea.

Regardless, the prose itself is also beautiful. I actually started the first story and then immediately reread it when I first beginning the book because of how gorgeous the prose was. I was stunned at Alcott’s attention to detail and how she constructs her sentences.

As a writer myself, I tend to appreciate the pieces that are gorgeously written at a syntax level, and I think Emergency is definitely up there when it comes to the books I’ve read in the past year. It tells a good story with the writing itself, not just the plot, which is why I’ve been raving about it in my real life, too.

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