“All the enchantments of the place were gone.”
Hillary Behrman scours the human condition with no time to slip on rose-colored glasses in Lake Effect. This debut short story collection received the 2024 Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction, a distinguished award firmly rooted in the indie literary world. Its recipient is chosen by a rotating featured writer and is presented by Sarabande Books, an independent, non-profit publishing house in Louisville, Kentucky—my home city—which published Lake Effect earlier this year.
Staying true to the book’s indie roots, the collection presents eighteen short stories that amplify voices not commonly found in the mainstream. LGBTQ+ and BIPOC characters maintain the spotlight, emphasizing Behrman’s dedication to inclusivity that is inherently found in her overarching themes of time, shared existence, and life in relation to mortality and birth.
Two of my favorite stories in Lake Effect are “12th and McGraw” and “Rocks.” Both are centered around domestic life, specifically the everyday occurrences of families. These narratives, as well as other stories, discuss life in three different phases: life beginning, life threatened, and life ending. The parallels between pregnancy and death are specifically notable in the collection because it encompasses the circle of life that we all participate in. Behrman creates a seamless thematic flow between the stories because of her mirroring the human condition in her writing structure.
Readers are whisked away to many locations in Lake Effect. But, whether it be large houses, lakes, or clay plains, the setting rarely fails to feel desolate and melancholic. Behrman utilizes one’s environment as a reflection of the mind, making an interesting examination of mental health and the formation of identity.
One of my favorite aspects of Lake Effect is its image of hope. Nostalgia is tarnished, innocence is lost, and lives are taken in the book. Yet, none of these things are necessarily without hope. The idea of something more than despair existing in the world after a devastating life event is intertwined with Behrman’s message of universal connectedness. To suffer is to be human, but to rise again and love is even more so.
I believe the book’s thematic significance can be pieced together simply using the title. The vastness of the human experience is a lake: deep and seemingly endless, yet not isolated. There is life brimming at its surface, functioning in an ecosystem that relies on the livelihoods of all creatures and plants. No one is alone, no matter their circumstances.
Lake Effect stands as both a deliberate and intimate work of literary fiction. The piece is a perfect reminder of indie work as integral to the art of inclusive storytelling. Especially in the form of a short story collection, the episodic structure provides a more spacious view into how connected humans truly are to one another, no matter their current circumstance.
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Image taken from Amazon.
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