By Elizabeth Engstrom
1986 Tor Books
Paperback, 249 pages
What an extraordinary book!
Writing that flows as smoothly as a gentle stream, weaving tales of angst,
horror and heartbreak with such compelling prose that the book is nearly
impossible to put down. Iconic sci-fi author Theodore Strugeon, with whom
Engstrom took a writing course, provides a forward here where he says he saw
her greatness early on. And boy, was he right! The two stories contained in
this book are unlike anything else I have ever read and both of them satisfied
me one hundred percent.
“When Darkness Loves Us”, the
first story, clocks in at around 70 pages but effectively covers a huge
timespan. Newlywedded Sally Ann is watching her husband plow the fields and
slips down some stairs into a tunnel below the woods, a place where she played
as a child. While down there, someone closes and locks the safety doors at
ground level, leaving her lost in complete darkness. And she is pregnant. What happens from there is an amazing story
of adaptation, loyalty, fear and evolution, all expressed brilliantly within
that short page count.
Clocking in at 164 pages,
“Beauty Is…” tells the story of Martha, born without a nose, shunned and abused
by her father, loved by her mother (a healer) and left mentally challenged
after an incident during her childhood. Now an adult living on her own, she is
childlike in a small town of people who look out for her. But Martha has a drive
and despite her disabilities, she has a will to learn and love and be loved.
When young Leon comes by to help fix up her house and stays on, she develops a
closeness with him that seems to open up new feelings and lost abilities. But
surely that creepy asshole who knows she has some money in the house will louse
things up for our protagonist.
I must admit that both stories
reeled me in completely and held me tight. I got all of the emotions
while in Sally Ann’s and Martha’s bleak worlds. I felt all of their pain and
their triumphs, their determination, and plenty of heartbreak. Engstrom is an
incredibly effective writer and she pulled me in hook line and sinker. I find
her writing in this book right up there with Michael McDowell in her ability to
transport me into another place completely. I can’t recommend this book highly
enough.
Luckily, Valancourt reprinted
this book as part of their Paperbacks from Hell line and kept Jill Bauman’s
amazing cover from the Tor paperback (which illustrates “Beauty Is…” rather
than the titular story). According to the author via her website (http://www.elizabethengstrom.net/),
both Spanish and German translations are forthcoming. Muy bueno! Sehr gut!
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