Turnrow 20 ... Blueprints for Building Better Girls

We love a good story collection, something to savor, maybe one story a night when things get quiet, like a good sipping whiskey. Occasionally we'll find a book of stories that we can't help but gulp down, one story after the next in a frenzy. Such is the laidback, easy appeal of Elissa Schappell's Blueprints for Building Better Girls.

This collection was recommended to us by a friend/author/customer. It had come second- or third-hand already, each reader getting lost in these simply told tales of young women from varying walks of life and times, from the 1970s onward. Schappell's women aren't caught up in outrageous situations but instead are put in the position to discuss their everyday problems and concerns without being dull. She tells their lives with familiar ease, like a shared confidence between close friends. She has a wry comic gift, even in the bleakest of situations. Here's a sample from "A Dog Story," in which a couple adopt a dog after their miscarriage. They're eating in their favorite restaurant, where they'd celebrated news of their conception months earlier:

I know neither of us imagined we'd see that waiter — the one who'd toasted our future, who'd shown us his kids — again. Douglas was poring over the wine list when I saw him across the room, waiting on another table. He recognized us. His face lit up, and he waved. Perhaps, his expression said, we had pictures? He mimed rocking a baby. I shook my head no. He was perplexed. Perhaps we'd left the baby at home? I made an exaggerated frowny face. He looked at me blankly. I gave him the thumbs-down. He still didn't get it. I drew my finger across my throat. This time I saw it reigster in his eyes just before he turned away.

Another waiter came to take our order...

The collection is filled with characters, lines of dialogue and gestures that glow with authenticity and truth. There is humor and sadness, awkwardness and bliss. It's a special kind of book you'll love passing to a friend as much as reading it yourself.

Comments

[Elissa Schappell]

There's nothing I like more than the image of someone gulping down one of my books like a great whiskey. Nothing better than a reader pressing their friends to read a book that resonated with them. That's a big deal. That desire to share, maybe have a conversation about these stories, that's huge. Thanks for such a great review.