Abstract

Abstract

Stacking Wood: collected stories Maya Rolbin-Ghanie

Stacking Wood is a collection of short stories, some of which explore a woman's childhood relationship to her father, and some of which portray her romantic relationships as an adult. The stories highlight her struggles with the obsessive, tyrannical power and abuse that she experienced in her interactions with her father, in part as the consequence of the power imbalance that he experienced, as an immigrant and an eccentric. The woman's exploration of her love-hate relationship with her father, through reflections on the her past and present life, reveal him as integral to her sense of self, even as she struggles to deal with past injuries caused by him, and the deep sense of panic and paralysis created by his absence in her adult life. The stories complete one another, and in spite of their different points of view, by addressing common themes of power struggle, abuse, and trauma, in the service of an overarching exploration of paralysis versus agency.