Abstract

Missing You is a collection of three short stories, the first two of which are fiction and the third a memoir. Though these stories stand independently, they are linked through their Montreal setting, their grounding in the medical profession, and their theme of connection and control in intimate human relationships. In "Break," "Ward," and "Play," the central relationships explored are, respectively, husband-wife, child-mother and child-father. In each story, the basic need and desire for connection with some important other is palpable. The characters typically respond to this need and desire with a fear of loss of control, based on an underlying threat of absence, chaos, unreality and/or the annihilation of the self. When the other ultimately eludes control, it can be both shattering and depressing, but at the same time can provide an unexpected opening for connection to take place. Though each story originates within the conventions of realism, differing concerns for each necessitate differing perspectives and styles. The impressionistic interiority of the second-person in "Break" allows an appreciation of the depth of the protagonist's anxieties. The more distanced stance in the third-person "Ward" provides a level of objectivity in observing the protagonist, who both needs connection and is also herself an important other with whom connection is sought. Finally, the memoir-style approach of "Play" underscores the gradual, tectonic shifting, with episodic, sudden ruptures and transformations, that can characterize a person's relationship to the other over time. The conversational approach of this last story also suggests the importance of the reader as other.