"Instantly, we took a dislike."

August 25, 2023 8:54 AM

The Little Widow From the Capital is a short story by Yohanca Delgado. It appears in the Best American Short Stories 2022. The link gives just the first three pages of the story but you can listen to it whole at NPR's Selected Shorts. Scroll down to "Best American Short Stories", story starts at 5min 30s.

"...The little widow had wallpapered her sewing room with a cheap burlap. When one of us slipped a fingernail underneath a panel and discovered that the rough cloth was glued on, we crossed ourselves and said a quick prayer for the little widow’s security deposit.

On that burlap the little widow had embroidered massive, swaying palm trees, so finely detailed that we could almost feel a salty breeze warm our faces as we stood on her tailor’s pedestal. Running our fingertips across the embroidered walls we could feel the braille of her labor; the grains of sand were individually stitched, as if the little widow knew each one. The ocean seemed to ripple and surge as the little widow worked around us in meditative silence, kneeling near our ankles with a pin between her lips. She was so gentle and fluid in her movements, her soft skin creasing like a plump baby’s around the pincushion she wore on her wrist."

posted by storybored (5 comments total)

I thought the story was okay, but I was intrigued by the use of the collective first person (e.g., story is told from the perspective of "we"). I couldn't think of any others that had done that, but I'd since been told some other examples, e.g., Summer of the Flesh Eater by Zsuzsi Gartner.
posted by stevil at 9:21 AM on August 25, 2023

Yes, stevil, first person plural is rare but when done nicely, it is a treat.
We need to talk about first person plural discusses and gives example stories.
posted by storybored at 9:40 AM on August 25, 2023

"A Rose for Emily" is one of my favorite examples.
posted by doctornemo at 10:37 AM on August 25, 2023

Most of An Ermine in Czernopol is in the first person plural, if that interests you.
posted by praemunire at 12:50 PM on August 25, 2023

i quite enjoyed the story, thanks for sharing.
in case anyone comes to this late and the selected shorts link no longer has the story on the front page, maybe the following links will still work
link a - the download link from the selected shorts link
link b - link a's final destination
posted by pav lova's pavlovian palaver at 12:57 AM on September 5, 2023