She-Clown, and other stories

by Hannah Vincent

Hannah Vincent's short stories depict the ordinary and extraordinary lives of women coping with the demands of society, the demands of men, of their fellow women, of their own bodies. At the centre of each story is a woman engaged in an act of self-preservation. In one story a young woman on the cusp of adulthood tries to express the horror and violence she perceives in the world around her, in another a teenage mother struggles to look after her child in the face of her obsession with the baby's father. One character experiences the freedom of the workplace while another perceives its constraints. One discovers how far her career has pushed her out to the margins of family life while another contemplates retirement. In the title story a woman catches a whiff of what respect and reciprocal attraction feels like. Women in these stories are exhilarated to discover the joy and surprise of other women's company, they make bold sexual choices and go on night-time excursions. As grandmothers they give their grandchildren unsuitable presents.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2020

Reviews

[Jackie Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

She-Clown and Other Stories, by Hannah Vincent, is a collection of sixteen short stories featuring women recognisable from ordinary social situations. Their everyday lives require that they compromise their potential in order to survive the hand chosen or dealt. They are described as feminist stories and this is accurate in a myriad of ways. Some of the women are chafing against the restrictions of marriage or motherhood. Others are pushing for their right to be themselves within a family that expects them to be something else – a facsimile or ideal. The tales are succinct, layered and fierce in their observations. They are also funny and refreshing in the spotlight shone on behaviours.

The titular story tells of an entertainer working at a child’s birthday party. The mothers congregate over wine and complaints about husbands and children. On arrival, She-Clown is introduced.

“‘You probably know half the people here,’ the mother said, turning to Charlie, and it was true that Charlie did recognise some of the faces. One of the men had sat in her car. She had given him a blowjob. She recognised his moccasin shoes. Another man, in a pink Ralph Lauren shirt, had fucked her in a laundry room among mountain bikes and drying washing while his wife gave out party bags.”

Charlie goes through her routine, aware of how she is being watched by some of the men. The children accept everything offered as their due, refusing to be impressed.

Other stories tell of parents called to schools – teachers expecting them to sort out a child’s behaviour where it doesn’t fit with the expected agenda.

Single parents push against their situation, and against their lack of agency in the face of authority figures.

Working mothers juggle the satisfaction of their professional lives, trying to find balance with family needs amidst parental criticism.

One story features a young couple recently returned from travelling, who are considering going down the road of motherhood. A catching up is required of one of them if they are to remain together. Love is all very well but people change over time and have diverging desires and expectations.

Not all of the women’s lives revolve around children.

Carnival offers the reader a young women whose office life demands she dress up (never well enough) and accept her boss’s disturbing behaviour. Making a fuss is frowned upon.

I enjoyed the stories featuring older women, many of whom behave badly in the eyes of their offspring. One mother gives her grandson an inappropriate gift, watching carefully for her daughter’s reaction. The grown up daughter of a controlling mother finds a novel way to exert her will when the mother is hospitalised.

These power plays between family members are presented with insight and wit.

In The Mermaid and the Tick a young couple go on holiday abroad at the behest of the husband. The wife is compliant, submitting to his plans despite reservations. When he notices she is fitting in better than he expected and that, while his needs are met, she can enjoy herself without him, his enjoyment is not as he anticipated.

Many of the men featured do not come out well in these stories, mainly due to their habits of wanting wives to revere them while they look lasciviously elsewhere.

A few of the stories offer more surreal elements, set in a world that may be futuristic. One explores how important it actually is for experiences to be real or useful if they are enjoyed by those who partake. Another is set at a dinner party where nobody knows who invited them or the purpose of the evening. There is a hankering for the past, or a might have been present, yet women continue to behave as others expect them to – even in the face of impending chaos.

The Sparrow is set on a successful doctor’s retirement day. It has a poignancy wound around why she ended up in the profession.

“‘Couldn’t be more proud’ is an expression of a surfeit of pride, and that wasn’t David. It wasn’t Daddy’s way either. I assumed it would please my father to have me follow him into medicine, and at a time when there were far fewer women doctors than there are now, but he was more concerned with Howard and his career, for all the good that did either of them. It will be good to have more time for my brother after today.”

It is interesting to consider the drivers in decision making – how women are conditioned to be pleasing. The denouement of this story is quietly moving.

Another moving story in the collection is 3 o’clock which is told from the point of view of an elderly lady with dementia. As she struggles with the tasks necessary to enable her to leave the house – remembering to take her smart bag and good purse, doing up the buttons on her coat – voices from the past haunt her. Each time she opens her fridge she hears ‘Close the door, it costs me money every time you go in there!‘ As she does her very best to make herself presentable she hears her mother-in-law say ‘You could wear the same outfit, Clem, and it wouldn’t look so smart.‘ Oh for more kindness within families…

I commend this collection to you for the variety of themes explored and the assiduity with which they are presented. The lightness of the writing belies the intricacy of the narrative. An entertaining and deeply satisfying read.

[Kacenka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vůbec nechápu, co se stalo. Ani v jedné povídce.

[karo💌 · Rating 4 out of 5]

- zajimava sbirka
- nektery povidky hodne nepochopitelny az nerealny

[Ivy]

Wow! I (American) got this on a trip to London (city in England) and this doesn’t factor into the review by any means but I did learn quite a bit of British English through reading this collection. I had to let these stories simmer in my brain for a bit before writing this review so here goes:
All of these stories were delightful to read. Capsules surrounding women in varying positions of age, wellness, gender/sexuality, etc. The one story that didn’t hit was one that massively shifted tone/focus/genre into a speculative fiction or sci-fi light situation— it wasn’t bad, it just genuinely does not belong in this collection. It gave a sense of whiplash in an otherwise pretty much reality-grounded set of stories. Not to mention the questionable use of ze/hir pronouns for… everyone in the story? For… some reason? I can’t tell you what it added to forward the narrative, plus this is the second and last acknowledgement in the book of trans people existing, as ze/hir pronouns are typically used by gender nonconforming and/or nonbinary people (etc— gender does not equal pronouns, this isn’t the place to get into that).
I was also caught off guard by the last story, which wraps up the collection by bringing all of the characters into one room, ending with a flood. At first I recoiled, but then I felt it. It was like playing Barbies as a kid, and it was an especially absurdist conclusion paragraph to the overarching narrative, very cool!
Altogether, this was a “I couldn’t stop reading and stayed up for hours past my bedtime” book, and for that reason I’m definitely gonna revisit in a few months.

[Rubén · Rating 3 out of 5]

En esta colección de relatos veo muchas mujeres con sus distintas rebeliones. Rebeliones contra lo cotidiano, contra las convenciones, contra los límites del matrimonio, contra la maternidad, contra sí mismas, contra los suyos, contra los convencionalismos de la sexualidad... Es una colección que habla de pequeños triunfos, de lo cotidiano, con un lenguaje bastante sarcástico por momentos. Eso sí, aunque sea una narración relativamente cotidiana e intimista, hay sitio para elementos propios de la fantasía y de los cuentos de hadas.

Destacaría los relatos «She-Clown», «The Poisonous Frog» y «3 o' clock». En la primera historia, una mujer se viste de payaso y trabaja en fiestas con niños y mantiene relaciones con algún padre. En la segunda, tenemos a una mujer cuya madre empieza a tener dificultades para comer y resulta que tiene una rana en la garganta. Una rana que luego pasa a ser su mascota. Y en la tercera, Vincent nos presenta una narración en primera persona de una mujer mayor que sufre demencia. Es quizá el relato más experimental, el que más juega con el lenguaje para marcar esos vacíos en la memoria.

Me llamó la atención ver "ze" y "hir" como pronombres y posesivos alternativos en uno de los relatos.

La colección me ha gustado, aunque como suele ocurrir con las colecciones de relatos, siempre habrá unos que te gusten más y otros que menos. De todos modos, lo recomiendo por las distintas innovaciones formales que podemos ver y por los temas que trata.

[Jodie Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscent of Miranda July, Hannah Vincent’s Short Story collection grabbed me immediately.
The magic of her stories lies in the mundane, with trips to the supermarket acting as catalysts for life decisions, depressing holidays and a She-clown with a repetitive relationship with men.
Certain stories bring out the surreal, like G-Lorious and The Poison Frog, and each page holds another surprise.

3 o’clock, the story of a woman with dementia told from her own point of view is particularly harrowing and moving.
The final few pages of the collection brings it all together in a wonderful way. You feel like you’ve been on a journey with Hannah and her characters, and when they are all gone, you feel bereft.

A must read of feminist stories for fans of Angela Carter and Miranda July.

[Meliza · Rating 2 out of 5]

overall alright but nothing super impressive. they’re all vaguely feminist some with small victories for the characters other that just sort of end with the understanding that this is how life is as you gotta live with it. the titular story is fine but i can see myself forgetting most of these with time

[Natasa Gramblickova · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don’t understand how someone can rate this book high. It was soooo descriptive, no action whatsoever, all about internal conflict and veeery detail descriptions about the clothes, surroundings etc…

Boring…. The only reason why it’s 2 🌟 and not 1, is because some parts of some stories were actually nice.

[Alma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grand, not amazing but also not bad. Kind of dragged myself through the first two-thirds without looking forward to it much, it picked up more for me for the last third. I really enjoyed about 4/5 of the stories in the book, the other ones were nice enough but forgettable imo.

[Nana Olafsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

[frog · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

[chala · Rating 3 out of 5]

loved the titular story

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters in the sixteen short stories of She-Clown and Other Stories are all stuck in the middle of situations that are neither of their own makings nor ideal.
In the title story, Charlie finds herself trying to impress bored children at their parties, where animal balloons do not hold the sense of fun or occasion that they used to. The Mothers are all talking, some of the fathers take more of an interest in Charlie, but none of them is interested in her as a person, just doing a gig, trying to get by.
The Poison Frog is about a close, but slightly toxic mother-daughter relationship, and the frog that is found in daughter Charlotte’s throat. The frog becomes a pet and a bone of contention between the pair.
The Mermaid and the Tick examines the differences that a husband and wife discover on a romantic holiday, whilst The Painting is about a work of art that misses out on the most important ingredients.
Camel Toe looks at the radically different lives of two sisters, reconnecting on the netball court after becoming orphans. 3 o’clock is a sad story written by a woman living with dementia—the fractured nature of the telling, and the story it contains drip with confusion and pathos.
All of the stories contain ordinary places, offices, and supermarkets, but they are places that signal change, and development in the lives of the characters contained within the stories. With something of Angela Carter, Raymond Carver and Sarah Hall, these are short stories that are bound to linger long after you have finished the book.