Images of dancing and the theme of survival connect the stories
in Cary Holladay's latest fiction collection, "The Palace of Wasted
Footsteps." These images may be explicit, or understated, as in
"Mayflies," which suggests the glorious yet frantic dance of brief,
intense lives. Yet each story depicts men, women, and children
partnered with death, love, or strange, wonderful chance.
Set largely in the Mid-South, Holladay's stories feature
characters with honest, even old-fashioned, sensibilities who set
out to do right and end up smitten. The policeman in "Doll"
discovers that his affection is torn between his pregnant wife, a
mannequin he found in a dump, and a haughty saleswoman whose smile
is like "a cat's yawn." The young woman in "Runaways," bedazzled by
the vanished hot-air balloonist who was her best friend's father,
creates a loving legend about him that inspires and sustains
her.
Darker in subject matter and atmosphere, "Merry-Go-Sorry"
captures an ironic theme that is carried throughout the collection.
"Merry- go-sorry. It means a story with good news and bad . . .
smacking you in the face at the same time." Centering on a small
Arkansas town in the aftermath of a triple murder, the story
follows the effects of three boys' deaths on the lives of their
parents, friends, and accused killers. Despite the sorrow felt
throughout the community, one girl finds solace in her new baby and
in the Bible verses she readily quotes.
"Rapture," the story of a young woman who has lost her family
and her home, again captures the essence of both joy and sorrow.
When a friend gives her a small glass egg, Etta is suddenly
confronted with memories of her youth and her beloved family.
Although buried woes emerge, she is also filled with newfound
contentment: "Tourists waved. To her surprise, her hand flew up;
she was waving back."
The rituals, struggles, and triumphs that the various characters
in "The Palace of Wasted Footsteps" experience are personal yet
universal. At the same time, they capture the subtle echoes of the
American South and its literary tradition. Like glorious mayflies,
Holladay's characters are forever enthralled in the frantic dance
of life--their passions are strong, their fates inevitable.
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