The Smallest Universe

by Wm. Anthony Connolly

This book is my memory.

So begins a story chronicled in the tattered journal of Mary Cross, kept in an old accounting book that was a gift from her father when she left home at age sixteen. It is a chronicle of experiences, struggles, and breakthroughs of a woman diagnosed with schizophrenia, traumatized by the most vivid of visions and voices. But were these episodes, fugues, or “spells,” as her ex Gregory used to call them, something else entirely? Mary's journey toward truth and overcoming her symptoms takes her far away, where she learns the rest of the story her visions and voices had always told her, from a past she did not know.

With a childlike perception of danger and wonder that is evocative of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, luminous with passion and mystery as Alice Hoffman's Turtle Moon, Wm. Anthony Connolly's newest novel is a resonant journey into what is real, and what is imagined, and why it matters.

After years of quiet, Mary finds herself once again overtaken by spells that feel as if she's fallen into a black hole, where she encounters fragments of dreamlike, indistinct voices, whispering in a tide of truth that will not be muffled, no matter how it ultimately rearranges the world around her. She struggles to make sense of the chaotic patterns of light and shadow, visual experiences that are as real to her as the ground underneath her feet. She finds comfort in writing down her perceptions in an old journal, faithfully recording nonsensical mutterings as well as deeply meaningful phrases. Mary also finds the patterns of the universe line up with what she's experiencing, and give her a language to describe to herself what is happening. Diagnosed with mental illness as a child and institutionalized, she escaped and found that once away, the episodes stopped. Mary was able to make her way in the world, finding love and settling down to mundane life. Until she visited Scotland for her grandfather's funeral, and found herself in a street at once familiar and frightening, and the visions and voices descended upon her once again.

162 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2021

About the author

Wm. Anthony Connolly is the author of the novels Get Back and The Obituaries, which was a Canadian bestseller in 2005. His work has appeared in The Rumpus, Intellectual Refuge and Elephant Journal to name a few. He is on the faculty of the MFA in Writing at Lindenwood University. He earned a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of Missouri and also holds an MFA in Writing from Goddard College. He lives in Delaware with his wife Dyan and their two dogs, Hemingway Short Story and Professor Leo Tolstoy.

Reviews

[L.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What prompted a read of this slim novella was the fact the author writes on a manual typewriter, there were no expectations, and therefore this reader was unprepared for the exquisite story within.
Having recently completed the verbose Stella Maris, THE SMALLEST UNIVERSE was a welcome respite and at first glance, similar to the McCarthy tale of a woman battling mental illness with tremendous intelligence. Connolly's prose by contrast is spare and thought-provoking. You quickly realize there is more going on here than stereotypical psychodrama. The story that evolves is subtle and devastating. If you don't sit back and go WHOA. at the end, check your pulse. I read A LOT of books, mostly fiction, all literature and this is the type of book I'd expect to find under the Little Brown & Co. umbrella or another name brand publisher of a similar ilk. Kudos to Propertius Press for getting this talented author into print, albeit with a rather bland book jacket.
Were I a part of the marketing team for Mr. Wm. Anthony Connolly I would immediately get THE SMALLEST UNIVERSE into the hands of one Sarah Polley, Maggie Gyllenhaal or Sally Wainright, for this is a story worthy of the screen.
Easily one of the best reads of this millennium and I can't wait to read Connolly's next book.

[Susan Speranza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Cross is an unfortunate woman whose ordinary life is punctuated by what doctors have diagnosed as schizophrenic episodes. Her lifelong journal recounts many of these episodes and other thoughts as well. She says this book is her memory. But memory, of which we know very little, is as mysterious as the universe, of which we also know very little. When her life begins to unravel she embarks on a journey to her past to find the truth of things. This is a page turning literary mystery with so many wonderful lines that the reader is compelled to slow down just to savor the words. Truly a gem, highly recommend.

[Jen McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A literary mystery that explores memory and what we think we know. A well crafted story that reads like a breeze.