Virtual via Teams at 12 - 1 PM
New Book: Difficult Women by Roxanne Gray
Difficult Women (2017) is a collection of short stories by American writer and academic Roxane Gay. The 25 stories of this volume feature female characters from all walks of life as they navigate the complexities of the human condition, the mysteries of love and loss, and the universal yearning for connection. Trauma is a uniting theme that threads through most of the stories, underscoring larger issues of violence against women and the dangers women face in modern-day America. Difficult Women was a national bestseller.
In each of the stories collected here, Gay profiles a particular woman as she faces difficulty in her life. Some of these difficulties concern romantic relationships, others sisterly and mother bonds, still others the peculiar intricacies of female friendship. These women come from various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, but their shared struggles connect them, as does the touch of magical realism that Gay infuses into most of their stories.
Among the tales is the opening piece, "I Will Follow You." A young woman recounts the kidnapping and sexual assault she and her sister endured at the hands of a pedophile. What they live through stuns them into terrorized silence, even years after their release. As adults, the trauma manifests in new ways, mostly as each woman's acceptance of the dysfunctional men in their lives.