She, by Michelle Latiolais. W.W. Norton & Co., 2015

‘She’ is an odd little book, neither novel nor short stories. Nameless women populate the chapters-stories? – with one girl, a fifteen year old runaway from a strict, abusive, fundamentalist family wandering in and out throughout the book. She has no idea what Los Angeles is like, but manages to have a charmed arrival, encountering good people who wish her no harm- which strikes me as very unrealistic. One woman faces cancer; another knows her husband has yet another girlfriend, and this one may be serious; her friend makes elegant, super realistic floral cake decorations yet is low paid for them and the baker she sells to claims to make them himself. One woman meets a man at the gas station who flirts with her and asks her to have coffee with him; the result of her decision there is horrifying.

There is no time in these vignettes to get a deep feeling for these women. We see them pass by but they don’t linger, although the end story gives us the feeling that a longer chapter may be starting. Kind of an enjoyable read but sort of fluffy. 

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