Collected Stories, by Ellen Gilchrist; Little, Brown; 512 pages; $27.95.
Ellen Gilchrist has compiled a broad sampling of her short fiction. In doing so, she bears a striking resemblance to her character Anna Hand. Struggling with her own writing, Anna wonders "how to move the characters around so they bruise against each other and ring true."
It is a question that permeates Gilchrist's book, which features a cast of frequently recurring characters from 15 previous works.
Most notable are Gilchrist's female protagonists. There is Rhoda, who is ornery but likable; Nora Jane, who is dropped by fate into some unlikely situations; and Traceleen, a straight-talking maid to the wealthy but unstable Miss Crystal.
Gilchrist's characters are so powerful because they are deeply emotional — passionate love, bitter hatred and explosive arguments are par for the course in a Gilchrist story. The characters, it seems, are incapable of having ambiguous feelings about anything.
Rhoda, whom Gilchrist aptly describes as "stuffed with cookies and ice cream and cigarettes and rage," throws some terrific temper tantrums, with anger that threatens to "split open (her) skull."
Nora Jane has an equally determined spirit. When she decides to run away from her home in New Orleans to meet her boyfriend, she robs a local bar and heads west.
Even Miss Crystal, who suffers through a miserable marriage, cannot disguise her feelings. When her husband, the staid Mr. Manny, insists that she stop flirting with a "big Spanish-looking boy" and come home, she tells him simply: "I'm staying here. Go get me a drink if you haven't got anything to do."
Gilchrist's female characters inspire as much naked emotion as they display, especially from the men in their lives. Anna's married lover tells her, after they spend one night together: "I'm going to fall in love with you. It's already happened. It's already too late."
"Collected Stories" is a welcome collection by a gifted writer.