Closing Ceremonies is a collection of linked love stories that explores the aftermath of love. Who among us has not suffered the after-shocks? The sorrowing souls that inhabit these tales struggle at various stages of the grief cycle: from denial and paralysis to anger and desire for revenge; to bargaining and, ultimately, for some characters and for others incompletely, acceptance and reconciliation. Some of the stories handle the love quandary comedically—for example, the triptych of stories about Francesca and Concetta, who embrace a sisterly friendship born of betrayal. Others are more elegiac, such as the story of Thor and Lovise: unsanctioned lovers who get to orbit about each other, however briefly. “Appropriation” is a coming-of-age story where the longed-for first kiss is obtained, but not in the way the kiss was desired. What links these stories? Human yearning to move out of love away from an obsessive attachment, to a selfless state where genuine love becomes possible again.
Do you have a favourite story, Darlene?
I love all my children – “Sins of the Father,” “Toilet Bowl Blues,” “The Question.” …But I have a special tenderness for “Pasta With The Priests.” In the confession at the heart of this story, my protagonist Francesca gets to acknowledge her two deepest sins. Through confronting the abuser and betrayer, without and within, and the redemptive power of love, she gets another chance to sing with her own true voice. It’s now or never – the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
