Old Crimes: and Other Stories

It would be dishonest to call Jill McCorkle’s Old Crimes an upbeat collection of short stories, but what it lacks in joy and hope, it makes up for in intimacy, honesty, and truth. I’ve rarely read a collection that has stayed with me like this one has; as a fan of McCorkle’s other works, like the novel Ferris Beach and the short story collection Going Away Shoes, I was stunned by the depth of this new work.

McCorkle’s characters are flawed, at times ugly to one another, and irrepressibly real. The title story sees young couple Lynn and Cal at a family inn in New Hampshire that has seen better days. The memories of what was once a likely happy place surround them, but the appearance of a girl so obviously in the throes of neglect makes Lynn uncomfortable from the start. As the story closes, we learn that Lynn has carried the memory of that girl throughout her life. This story is intertwined with the histories of the Yde Girl and the Tolland Man, figures whose remains were found long after their spirits left the earth. This parallelism is one of McCorkle’s strengths, and there are echoes of history and literature throughout the collection.

There are two other standouts in the collection. “Confessional” includes a newly married couple who buy an old church confessional and install it in their home as a novelty, unaware of the consequences the purchase will have. “Baby in the Pan” is a startling and brutal examination of the effect of shared misinformation. As I read this story, I was floored by how real the mother and daughter were, I have known those women, and McCorkle’s captures their points of view beautifully.

There are few writers working today who can present the lives of their characters without apology. The stories in Old Crimes do this. If you’ve not read McCorkle, then you are in for a treat with this brilliant collection.