Jack and Sadie
Jack and Sadie are a couple introduced in this short story collection’s opening tale, “The Irish Wedding.” Those nuptials are not Jack and Sadie’s, but rather that of his sister Fiona. Sadie is American born and bred while Jack is American born, but British bred. Over the course of almost half of the dozen stories which make up this collection, the author will return to them again to tell various other parts of their stories, including how they met the night of a puppet parade in Beantown.
Willie Shaver, “A Splinter”
A very Jack is featured in this story in which explains how Jack is actually named Lenny. But that isn’t important right now. Of greater significance is why Jack would be at a parade in Boston for puppets and Willie Shaver answers that question. Willie is the dummy of world famous ventriloquist Lottie Stanley and this weird addition to the already long list of weird stories about ventriloquists and their dummies provides a useful chunk of backstory to what goes on between Jack and Sadie. Important to keep in mind, however, is that this is merely a collection of stories in which Jack and Sadie do repeatedly appear, but it is not a novel about those characters disguised as a short story cycle.
Mistress Mickle, “Mistress Mickle All at Sea”
Mistress Mickle is quite literally a character. She is the villain on a British children’s game show played by an actress named Jenny Early whose earlier claim to fame was a recurring character on Coronation Street and who also does voiceover work for cartoons and video games. Although this story is quite clearly about Jenny, the narrator constantly refers to her as Mistress Mickle. And you can believe there is a point being made there.
Louis and David Levine, “Proof”
David Levine has splurged on a literal guilt trip to Scotland designed to find some sense of comfort and redemption for his prickly relationship with his father, Louis. The highlight of the trip is appearing to be the chance to see some puffins on a rocky shoreline because, after all, despite what many may think, puffins are not penguins. But the jagged cliffs of a rocky shoreline is a dangerous place for a man the age of Louis suffering from those terrible things people of a certain age begin to suffer from.
Dr. Benjamin, “It’s Not You”
This is one of the few stories in the collection featuring a first-person narrator and that person chooses to be cagey on the subject of identifying herself. One character very much identified is a famous radio talk show host offering compassionate advice to calls, but little else. The narrator confesses to being an obsessive listener because, as a result of what she terms the “terrible advice” he doles out, she has grown to despise him. Although not exclusively so, this aspect of the relationship between Americans and celebrities, in part this is a story that examines the psychological nature of that symbiotic relationship.
