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About the author
Grace Paley
132 books417 followersGrace Paley was an American short story writer, poet, and political activist whose work won a number of awards.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 22, 2025
5 stars
Free copy here: https://assets.locable.com/pdfs/5965/...
short review for busy readers:
Another short story winner from Paley!
in detail:
Three middle aged women gather at the deathbed of one of their longtime friends. After the visit, we travel with them home on the commuter train, listening to their conversations, their worries, their gripes, their arguments.
In her typical minimalist style, Paley paints a picture of three lives just starting to have the shadow of death creep over them. The women are still young enough to be interested in men and marriage, but old enough to be worried about their grown children, their exes, and what the future will hold for them down the line.
Grace Paley really was a master of achieving depth and texture with the barest of brushstrokes. Her minimal, fracture dialogues are pitch perfect, as they convey so much although they hardly ever say a lot. It's an injustice that she's been largely forgotten today.
A good introduction to her work.
Free copy here: https://assets.locable.com/pdfs/5965/...
short review for busy readers:
Another short story winner from Paley!
in detail:
Three middle aged women gather at the deathbed of one of their longtime friends. After the visit, we travel with them home on the commuter train, listening to their conversations, their worries, their gripes, their arguments.
In her typical minimalist style, Paley paints a picture of three lives just starting to have the shadow of death creep over them. The women are still young enough to be interested in men and marriage, but old enough to be worried about their grown children, their exes, and what the future will hold for them down the line.
Grace Paley really was a master of achieving depth and texture with the barest of brushstrokes. Her minimal, fracture dialogues are pitch perfect, as they convey so much although they hardly ever say a lot. It's an injustice that she's been largely forgotten today.
A good introduction to her work.
March 12, 2022
Like Gish Jen says during her intro on the New Yorker Fiction podcast (which is where I “read” this story) it is not the most typical or accessible piece of work from Grace Paley. But I liked the theme of death and middle-aged mothers. If you told me when I was 25 that I would one day be interested in such things I would have been depressed for a year - but here we are . . .
July 15, 2019
I'm baffled why some women look upon vulgarity and sexual promiscuity as steps towards feminism.
It reminds me of those children who, having learnt their first rude word, start cursing for the first time; or the teenagers who have had their first sexual encounter. Somehow, this makes them think that they have grown up.
I may come up with several definitions for feminism, but vulgarity is not among them. So I'd kindly ask 'some' feminist writers to go easy on the mundane, especially vulgarity and sex, and think about more serious things. Even if they were steps towards feminism, they are so cliched it's just not interesting anymore.
It reminds me of those children who, having learnt their first rude word, start cursing for the first time; or the teenagers who have had their first sexual encounter. Somehow, this makes them think that they have grown up.
I may come up with several definitions for feminism, but vulgarity is not among them. So I'd kindly ask 'some' feminist writers to go easy on the mundane, especially vulgarity and sex, and think about more serious things. Even if they were steps towards feminism, they are so cliched it's just not interesting anymore.
June 20, 2023
Humour and tragedy delivered with a near pitch perfect dialogue between four friends , one of whom is dying . Selina is the optimist, the mother of the group, in a group of women whose friendship was formed when their children were small and whose world always holds their offspring in the foreground of their common gaze.
It's tremendously confident and spare. A perceptive portrait of how long term friendship works, how women work, how they argue and what motivates us to act in the world . The political activism spoke to my own experience , motherhood pushes community concerns to the fore . There's loss too ; not all the children make it through to a certain adulthood despite the care and attention , but there's a lot parents miss too.
It's tremendously confident and spare. A perceptive portrait of how long term friendship works, how women work, how they argue and what motivates us to act in the world . The political activism spoke to my own experience , motherhood pushes community concerns to the fore . There's loss too ; not all the children make it through to a certain adulthood despite the care and attention , but there's a lot parents miss too.
December 7, 2020
A short story told in first person by the narrator, Faith, and two of her lifelong friends, Susan and Ann on their five hour train ride back from visiting their friend Selena, who is on her death bed. The story looks back on how they became and stayed friends for such a long time. But collectively they each feel as if Selena has done them all a misjustice by dying before them, and thus breaking up their crew.
January 14, 2025
Set in around the 1970’s, in the New York metropolitan area, this story is about four middle-aged women who are friends, Selena, Susan, Ann, and Faith- aged forty-eight, the narrator.
The women were in a mother’s group when their children were growing up. They had offered their help through the PTA in the school system.
The aftermath of the Vietnam war is in the background. The terms Feminism and Judaism are mentioned briefly.
Sadly, Selena is dying of cancer and this has brought the four friends together again. The women are all divorced and their friendship has provided emotional support among themselves.
Additionally, Selena had been brought up in an orphanage. Her numerous older siblings had been unable to cope adequately with the loss of their mother and bringing her up.
Generally though, Selena has tried to make the best of her family situation and been very independent.
Husbands of other women are mentioned in the story. They are not exhibiting responsible family behavior - Ed Flores, an unnamed man on the train, and Max (living in North Carolina).
The four women friends husbands are not mentioned at all.
Max is Selena’s current partner but she refers to as him as "him” and she doesn’t have any photos around, unlike her daughter Abby and Abbby's school friends.
The four women friends are still arranging contacts with these types of men.
Portrays women and children trying to cope, with the odds going down rapidly for children without strong parental support. This is in the face of: “cars, wars, drugs, madness.”
The four women’s children are, firstly, Abby (Selena’s daughter), who died when she was out of touch with her family ”found in a rooming house in a distant city.”
Sadly, Mickey (Ann’s son), is currently exhibiting the same type of behavior as Abby. Judith (Ann’s daughter) is doing okay.
Chrissy and John (Susan’s children), and Richard and Anthony (Faith’s sons), are all doing okay.
Other children are mentioned in the story who had died young: Bill Dalrymple (Vietnam), Bob Simon, Matthew, Jeanie, Mike, Al Lurie (murdered on sixth street), Brenda, O.D.’s on Ann’s roof).
At one point, Anthony seems to suggest that other children were aware of Abby’s downward spiral: “how come Selena never realized about Abby?”
The women were in a mother’s group when their children were growing up. They had offered their help through the PTA in the school system.
The aftermath of the Vietnam war is in the background. The terms Feminism and Judaism are mentioned briefly.
Sadly, Selena is dying of cancer and this has brought the four friends together again. The women are all divorced and their friendship has provided emotional support among themselves.
Additionally, Selena had been brought up in an orphanage. Her numerous older siblings had been unable to cope adequately with the loss of their mother and bringing her up.
Generally though, Selena has tried to make the best of her family situation and been very independent.
Husbands of other women are mentioned in the story. They are not exhibiting responsible family behavior - Ed Flores, an unnamed man on the train, and Max (living in North Carolina).
The four women friends husbands are not mentioned at all.
Max is Selena’s current partner but she refers to as him as "him” and she doesn’t have any photos around, unlike her daughter Abby and Abbby's school friends.
The four women friends are still arranging contacts with these types of men.
Portrays women and children trying to cope, with the odds going down rapidly for children without strong parental support. This is in the face of: “cars, wars, drugs, madness.”
The four women’s children are, firstly, Abby (Selena’s daughter), who died when she was out of touch with her family ”found in a rooming house in a distant city.”
Sadly, Mickey (Ann’s son), is currently exhibiting the same type of behavior as Abby. Judith (Ann’s daughter) is doing okay.
Chrissy and John (Susan’s children), and Richard and Anthony (Faith’s sons), are all doing okay.
Other children are mentioned in the story who had died young: Bill Dalrymple (Vietnam), Bob Simon, Matthew, Jeanie, Mike, Al Lurie (murdered on sixth street), Brenda, O.D.’s on Ann’s roof).
At one point, Anthony seems to suggest that other children were aware of Abby’s downward spiral: “how come Selena never realized about Abby?”
February 9, 2022
Grace Paley is a master of prose. She finds such beautiful, clear ways to write about mundane things.
April 28, 2022
I had a hard time staying focused in this story
October 19, 2022
counting this as a book for my yearly count because it’s on here, i read and analyzed it, and wrote a 2k+ word essay about it.
anyways, i loved this short story so much it made me cry!
anyways, i loved this short story so much it made me cry!
November 18, 2025
I think maybe I’m just not a short story kind of girl, bc I wanted to read 100 more pages of this
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews