Greetings, commies!
If you cannot commit to a full length novel, check out this brilliant short story from a historical novelist Kim Rendfeld. Hopefully Madame Noir will excite your literary taste buds and prompts you to check out her Carolingian series.
Synopsis:
Las Vegas, 1911: Madame Noir hopes to escape her past of divorce and prostitution with her new-found trade as a spiritualist and medium. When a new client asks for help with a life-changing choice, Madame Noir must do more than convince the young woman she can communicate with the dead. She must free her from her demons while she confronts her own.
In this short story, author Kim Rendfeld imagines a middle-aged woman with few options daring to start a new life and find redemption.
My thoughts:
I have been a fan of Kim Rendfeld's historical fiction for a while. I've read all of her full length Carolingian era novels. She has already proven that she can handle novel length fiction with in-depth character development. Crafting compelling short stories is a whole different skillset. Her story "Madame Noir" is nothing short of a tour de force. She manages to squeeze a whole universe into a piece of short fiction. The story reveals the unsavory and unflattering reality of being a woman in early 20th century America, a place of opportunity to rise - or fall ... and rise again. Pre- WWI world was in flux politically, socially, industrially, even religiously. The story's protagonist capitalizes on the addictions and superstitions of the people around her to survive in a morally ambivalent world. The story touches upon such complex issues as internalized misogyny and judgment that women impose upon each other. With a few strategic strokes, the author is able to paint compelling back stories for her characters.
