The Two of Us

by Kathy Page

Longlisted for the 2016 Giller Prize The stories in The Two of Us focus on intense one-on-one relationships and encounters. Characters undergo genetic testing, garden, overeat, starve themselves, consider suicide, travel, have their hair cut, fall pregnant, all while simultaneously driving each other towards moments where they – sometimes unwillingly — glimpse the meaning and shape of their lives, and who they might become.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Canada

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

She has her BA from York (England) and her MA in writing from the University of East Anglia. A novelist and widely anthologised short-story writer, she has also written for television and radio. Her themes are loss, survival, and transformation: the magic by which a bad hand becomes a good chance. Her fifth novel, The Story of My Face, was long-listed for the Orange Prize in 2002, and is optioned for a feature film. The sixth, Alphabet, was nominated for a Governor General's award in 2005. Her latest title, The Find, 2010, is her first novel set in Canada: a story about discovery, inheritance and fate, and a moving exploration of the possibilities that hide within a seemingly impossible relationship.

Kathy Page has taught fiction writing at Universities in England, Finland and Estonia, and held residencies in schools and a variety of other institutions/communities, including a fishing village and a men’s prison.

She now lives in British Columbia, Canada.

Reviews

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m doing it for both of us, because this is how we must go: muffled, blinkered and blind, empty of knowledge, fearless, deaf to warnings and ignorant of history. You and I, the two of us, moving on, but also going back to where everyone has been before. There, at the very start, is no story at all, but a beginning from which everything will unfold.

Reading the Giller Prize longlist is always a treasure hunt: sometimes I'm blown away by writers I've never encountered before (and am always shocked when my favourites don't become finalists for Canada's richest literary award), and sometimes I read books that make me groan and think, “Well, that's an unsatisfying read, but zeitgeisty enough to go through”. The Two of Us marks the second time that I've been prompted to read a collection of Kathy Page's short stories (her Paradise and Elsewhere made the longlist in 2014), and her work represents a third category: those books that might not win awards but that I think everyone should pick up nonetheless. Page's writing is precise and compelling, and when these little tales take dark turns, the situations feel inevitable and genuine; these are the tragedies we stare down every day.

As the title suggests, these stories concentrate on pairs of people (the quote I opened with is an expectant mother talking to her unborn child from the title story), and relationships are often brought into focus by some third character, not necessarily another person. Some of my favourites: in The House on Manor Close, three daughters recount their individual relationships with their parents (“Your mum's crazy, you know”) and the garden that drains all their time and attention; in The Right Thing to Say, a married couple is under strain as they await the results of genetic testing; in It is July Now, a woman in an unnamed Communist-type country must play host to a visiting lecturer and local customs impede friendship; in Open Water a swimming coach (and eventually his wife as well) allow their lives to be taken over by a young athlete with Olympic potential.

In The Perfect Day, an adult woman takes her elderly parents on a field trip, and as her father is now nearly helpless and in care, the lifelong family dynamics are brought into sharper focus as the woman must navigate her father's needs and her mother's impatience. There's a scene near the end when the mother and daughter argue over whether or not to remove the old man's sweater (yes, he asked for it, but it's cutting off circulation to his hands now), and when they are driving back home, the mother leans forward to tell her that this had been a perfect day. The daughter thinks:

Nip, tuck. Omit, forget. I should do the same but have never had the gift. Birds dart in front of the car. Drifts of blossom carpet the road. And knowing that Mum, too, wants to improve upon our shared reality is no small thing. The May colours brighten, waver and spill over as I tell her: yes, it was.

Even if I've never been exactly there, that whole story is totally relatable. In Pigs, an obese couple is on a holiday to visit the Georgia O'Keeffe house in New Mexico, and while on the one hand they are happily married and well off and give the impression that they don't care what anyone thinks of them, internally, the wife doesn't understand how she got to where she is, whose fault it might be, or if her husband would even still love her if she tried to lose weight:

We are killing each other, she thought again. By inches. Or mouthfuls. Sometimes deliciously, but not always so. They were killing each other routinely, sometimes grudgingly or argumentatively, and mostly they were unaware of what they were doing. By now, she could see it, the strangeness of the pact they were joined in without ever having discussed it or consented to its goals and terms. Gravity pulled down on every pound of her flesh. She was her own worst enemy, and his.

These aren't really stories that make you think, necessarily, but I was transported into many different realities and felt truth there. What better reason to read? This is why I love the longlists.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find myself developing a greater appreciation for short stories and I really enjoyed this collection. Often the story involved an everyday moment but Page managed to develop a wonderful tension in only a few pages.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not usually a fan of short stories, but this book proved to be the exception. Each story stands alone, but they have very slight connections -- not vital, but interesting. Kathy Page is a new favourite author of mine. Her writing allows the stories to unfold without every making you aware of writer behind the scenes. Lovely and natural.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly readable collection of stories, some of which entertained me, some of which left no impression whatsoever. Definitely one of those books that splits the difference for me and defaults to a 3 star rating.

[Kimberley Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was excellent.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Interesting stories about "twos": couples, siblings, teacher and student, hairdresser and client, etc.

Blurb says they "reflect our yearning for meaningful connection". They were okay.

[Claudia Rynkowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading this book three quarters in. The stories aren't half as moving as the other reviews and summaries lead them on to be...

[Ariane Fleischmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a while, Canadian authors. I started back in with something light – a collection of short stories. Despite the Canadian name attached to this book, most of the stories take place in the UK.

Page explores relationships: pairs, two people that come together through a lifetime or by chance. Like relationships in real life, some worked for me, some did not.

A rural family in which the mother cooks according to rules in her own mind struggles to connect to her daughter. A man on the phone helping an old woman find her way home, then with his wife trying to figure out what home really means to him. The final novella about a swim coach and his star pupil who ultimately takes an unexpected route.

I found the stories lacking in some way, as if they were cold and needed a blanket to warm them. Even characters and stories I could relate to felt a bit like stock characters rather than real people.

Short stories can still have texture and spirit. The best writers do much with few words. I wanted just a bit more from this.

[Rachel Laverdiere · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this collection 3.75 stars--some of these stories would receive a 5-star rating, but others were missing some oomph. "Pigs" is my favourite story in The Two of Us. In this story, Page begins with a seemingly normal--perhaps blissful--situation of a married couple on vacation. Little by little, we see that it is anything but an ideal weekend. (I don't want to give anything away!) In a dozen pages, I experienced a range of emotions. I have thought about this story several times since I put The Two of Us back in the bookcase. Chances are that someday I will go bak and reread a few of these short stories, but not all of them.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes short stories.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathy Page’s hypnotic short story collection The Two of Us reinforces its title from the first to the last of its unforgettable tales. Each story, unto itself and building successively, piece by piece, spirals in and out from the power of duos and duality. That power is dizzying, and intensifies and deepens with each relationship depicted … and discovered.

My full review is here: http://bookgagabooks.ca/2017/01/20/th...

[Enid Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection of short stories. Heartfelt. Entertaining. Food for thought. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most collections of short stories, some of the stories appealed to me more than others.